Radstock
Radstock | |
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Avon and Somerset | |
Fire | Avon |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Website | www |
Radstock is a town and civil parish on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, about 9 miles (14 km) south-west of Bath and 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Frome. It is within the area of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. The Radstock built-up area had a population of 9,419 at the 2011 Census.
Radstock has been settled since the
The spoil heap of Writhlington
Radstock is home to the
History
Radstock has been settled since the
The
The town is close to the site of the Radstock rail accident, a rail crash that took place on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, on 7 August 1876. Two trains collided on a single track section, resulting in the deaths of 15 passengers.[9]
The last passenger train services in Radstock closed in 1966, and the last
Coal mining
In 1763, coal was discovered in Radstock and mining began in the area.
The complex geology and narrow seams made the coal extraction difficult; three underground explosions, in 1893, 1895 and 1908, were amongst the first attributable solely to airborne coal dust.[20]
Tonnage increased throughout the 19th century, reaching a peak around 1901, when there were 79 separate collieries and annual production was 1.25 million tons per annum.
Governance
In 2011, Radstock gained a town council. Until then, the town was part of the
Radstock is administered by the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset and by Radstock Town Council.
The area is within the North East Somerset UK Parliament constituency, which covers all parts of the Bath and North East Somerset district outside Bath.[25] Prior to Brexit in 2020, it was in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament.
Geography
The main geological feature in this area of the
Radstock lies on the
Along with the rest of
Population
At the 2011 Census, Radstock parish had a population of 5,620.[31] At that time the wider built-up area, defined by the Office for National Statistics to include the Westfield area south-west of the town, had a population of 9,419.[1]
Transport
Radstock was the terminus for the southern branch of the
Radstock had a second
Radstock is situated on the A367 between Bath and Shepton Mallet, and on the A362 between Farrington Gurney and Frome, very close to the A37.
Memorial Gardens
Since the closure of the railways the railway land in the centre of the town stood empty for many years. Most prominent was a green space between the museum and brook which housed a dis-used pit wheel on a low steel frame, which many passers-by mistook for a spinning wheel. There had long been an aspiration to develop a memorial park or garden on the site to commemorate both the mining history of the town and to provide a new setting for the town's war memorial.
In 2001 a local practice of landscape architects, New Leaf Studio were commissioned by Bath & North East Somerset Council to develop proposals for the land.[35] The first phase of the park, the Memorial gardens were then built for the Norton Radstock Town Council in 2005 to New leaf Studio's designs incorporating a new sculptural base for the old mine wheel by artist Sebastien Boyesen.[36]
The new Memorial Gardens incorporate the war memorial which was moved from Victoria Square as part of the project. The planting employs a naturalistic style with broad drifts of herbaceous perennials and grasses providing colour through a long season, extending through the winter with dry stems and seed heads.
Museum
The
Education
First schools for children up to 11 include St Mary's C of E Primary School, St Nicholas C of E Primary School and Trinity Primary School.
Writhlington School in Radstock is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–18. It has specialist status as a Business and Enterprise College. The school has 1,242[40] pupils in both compulsory and sixth-form education. The school is notable for its orchid project,[41] which includes the biggest collection of orchids outside Kew Gardens and has won numerous awards including a gold medal at the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show.[42] The school has also won awards in business with its enterprise companies and was named the most enterprising school in England in 2006.[43]
The town is served by the Somer Valley site of
Sport and leisure
Radstock has a Non-League football club Radstock Town F.C. who play at The Southfields Recreation Ground.
Media
The local free newspaper, the
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West and ITV West Country. Television signals are received from the Mendip TV transmitter.[46]
The town is served by the local radio stations: BBC Radio Somerset on 95.5 FM, Heart West on 102.6 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South West on 102.4 FM and Somer Valley FM, a community based station which broadcast on 97.5 FM and also online.[47]
Religious sites
Radstock contains four churches, united under the umbrella of "Churches together in Radstock". There are frequent interfaith unity services in the town.
The
Radstock
Radstock was one of the missions established in 1913 by the Downside community. A temporary building of thin wooden beams and asbestos blocks was erected in 1913,[51] and dedicated to St Hugh. Its altar rails and benches came from Prior Park. Dom Mackey was succeeded in 1918 by Dom Ambrose Agius, who acquired a disused printing works, formerly a barn and converted it into the present church in Westfield, which opened in 1929. It was rebuilt after a serious fire in 1991. It has a statue of the patron on its façade.[52] St Hugh's church closed and was converted to private housing in 2018.
Radstock is also home to a
Notable people
- William Blacker (1843–1913), Australian politician
- L. J. F. Brimble (1904–65), botanist and editor of Nature magazine.[53]
- Frank Coombs (1906-1941), English painter and architect[54]
- Alick Grant (1916–2008), footballer for Aldershot, Leicester City, Derby County, Newport County and York City.
- Bill Hyman (1875–1959), Somerset County cricketer.
- Ernest Hyman (1904–1927), Yeovil Town footballer.[55][56][57]
- Frank Pratten (1886-1941), founder of F. Pratten and Co Ltd, manufacturer of prefabricated classrooms and other buildings.
References
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- ^ Johnston, James B (1915). The place-names of England and Wales. J. Murray. p. 410.
- ^ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
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- ^ a b "Peak District Mines Historical Society". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ^ Bonsall, Penny (July 1986). "The Writhlington Miners Strike 1899". Five Arches. 2. Radstock, Midsomer Norton and district museum: 3–5.
- ^ "List of Mines in Great Britain and the Isle of Man, 1908". Coal Mining Resource Centre. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
- ^ "Writhlington SSSI, Somerset". UK: Natural England. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
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- ^ a b "A Brief History of the Bristol and Somerset Coalfield". The Mines of the Bristol and Somerset Coalfield. Archived from the original on 17 January 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
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- ^ "Rural Areas — Area 15 Norton Radstock Southern Farmlands" (PDF). Bath and North East Somerset Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- ^ a b "South West England: climate". Met Office. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
- ^ "Radstock Parish". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2013.)
- ^ "The Colliers Way (NCN24)". BANES cycling. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
- ^ "OpenCcyleMap Cycle Map". Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
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- ^ "Town centre memorial park, Radstock". New Leaf Studio. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
- ^ "Pit Head Wheel". Bath and North East Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
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- ^ "Radstock Museum". Radstock Museum. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ "Education". Radstock Town Council. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ "Writhlington School". Ofsted. Archived from the original on 9 April 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
- ^ "WSBEorchids". WSBEorchids. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
- ^ "Chelsea Flower Show 2009: Continuous Learning Awards" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ^ "WSBE Orchids". About. Archived from the original on 16 November 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
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- ^ "About Somer Valley FM". Somer Valley FM. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ "Church of St Nicholas". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 December 2006.
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External links
Media related to Radstock at Wikimedia Commons