Radstock

"RADSTOCK, a parish in the hundred of Kilmersdon, county Somerset, 8 miles S.W. of Bath, its post town, and the same distance N.W. of Frome. It is a prosperous village situated on the road from Bath to Exeter, and near the river Avon, which here receives several small streams. This parish is very productive of coal, of which there are several mines in operation, and there are quarries of corn-grit and lias stone, which last, when burnt, makes excellent brown lime, that hardens under water. In 1849 two veins of coal were discovered, from 5 to 6 feet in thickness. The coals are conveyed from the collieries by tramways to the Kennet and Avon canal, and by a branch line of railway, which forms a junction at Frome with the Wilts and Somerset section of the Great Western line. The mines are worked by the Countess Waldegrave, and employ a large number of the inhabitants. The soil is chiefly of a light nature, with a subsoil of clay and ruckey stone. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value £270. The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, has a tower containing five bells. There is a parochial school for both sexes. The Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, Reformed Methodists, and Baptists have each a place of worship, with Sunday-schools in connection. Round-Hill-Barrow is in this parish. Radstock gives the title of baron to a branch of the family of Waldegrave. The Countess of Waldegrave is lady of the manor and principal landowner." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003