An award-winning Museum celebrating the History of Victorian Radstock.
From almost anywhere in the city, cast your eye towards the rolling hills to the south. Just over those hills and a few miles away lies yet another surprise, the beginning of what was the Somerset Coalfield. It is incredible to think that in past centuries, the Somerset Coalfield was home to dozens of working deep level mines, providing fuel to neighbouring Bath and other places. The last deep mine in the Somerset Coalfield closed in 1973.
If you want to find out what it was really like living and working in a local mining community, then a visit to the award-winning Somerset Coalfield Life at Radstock Museum is a must. Radstock Museum is housed in the Grade II listed Victorian market hall, and includes reconstructions of a Victorian shop, a miner’s cottage as well as a school room. There are no more working deep mines in the UK, but at Radstock Museum you can still visit the reconstructed coalmine to see how dangerous it was for both men and boys as young as just five years old, working in Somerset’s famously narrow coal seams just to make a living. You'll also find a shop and tearoom on site, as well as special events and exhibitions throughout the year.
Discovery Card holders receive 50p off an individual adult ticket.
Visit the Radstock Museum’s website for further information, details of opening times and latest updates.