Coal from Camerton Revised & Enlarged

This is the story of one village, in the context of the whole coalfield, which reflected life in this part of Somerset for over two hundred years. The North Somerset Coalfield is situated in an Arcadian landscape of valleys and streams, woods and fields only a few miles to the south west of Bath. Even today it is a somewhat secluded area, where access from neighbouring towns has always been difficult. It was an area isolated from the other coalfields in the Midlands and South Wales until the coming of the railways. The populations of Bristol and Bath were growing at the end of the 18th century increasing the need for easily accessible coal and in this unlikely area, amid the green hills of Somerset, there were real possibilities of meeting that demand. Furthermore, the coal owners were men of vision and enterprise. This is their story.