Site history

View of Radstock looking down on the Great Western Railway. Image supplied by Radstock Museum

The discovery of coal dates back to 1763 when Radstock became the centre of coal mining activity in North Somerset. Transport was the essential key to its success with the Somerset Coal Canal transporting coal until the introduction of the railway in 1854. After 200 years of exploitation, the North Somerset Coal reserves were too deep to mine competitively and the industry ended in the early 1970s when the last remaining coal mine was closed, followed later by the closure of the railways.

NRR has owned the land since 2001. NRR’s land occupies the site of the former railway line, station and wagon works of the Great Western Railway Company. The land extends over 18 acres (7.28 hectares) starting at the centre of the town and stretching along the former railway line corridor into the countryside. Part of the site was also in use by the Ludlow’s Colliery, which was subsequently used as the Radstock Town Council Offices. The railway line and associated buildings have remained unused since the 1980s. A Health & Safety audit carried out in 2002 resulted in the demolition of a number of unsafe buildings.

The mining and associated railways created economic vibrancy leading to growth and investment in the town.  The workers cottages, Victoria Hall and the Methodist Church on Fortescue Road, for example, are all signs of the investment in the town during this period. Before the rail line was built the character of the town was very different with two areas of settlement straddling the Wellow Brook that winds its way through the town. However, the arrival of the railways reinforced the separation of the two parts of Radstock.

The closure of the coal mines and railways resulted in a major economic decline in the area.  Since then Radstock has seen little investment in the town and regeneration is the key to its future success.  Change began in 1998 with the introduction of the regeneration programme known as the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB). This funding provided the first opportunity to tackle the decline and deliver some of the Community’s aspirations identified in a Community Planning Weekend held in March 1998. NRR evolved from the SRB programme and was given funding to purchase the land, finalised in April 2001.