Our Legacy

Learn more about the coal mining in Somerset and our legacy.

Coal mining in Somerset.

The legacy of coal mining in Somerset is visible all around us, although some signs are more obvious than others. It’s visible in the landscape left by the industry, the transport network that served it and the buildings associated with pits and the miners who worked them.

In recent years that Somerset Miners Welfare Trust has worked hard to remind communities of their heritage, through the placing of miners silhouettes and the recording of the stories of those who lived and worked in the coalfield.

Perhaps less obvious is the recreational legacy from the industry, developed over the last century, and still at the heart of many of our communities.

The last pit in Somerset.

The last pit in Somerset closed in 1973, so many who live in the area may not know that the villages and towns in which they live were once mining communities. Even if they do, they may not be aware that many of the recreational facilities they enjoy owe their existence to the Somerset miners.

The mining industry was unique in that it was the only industry that ever had a statutory obligation to provide money for the social welfare of its employees and their dependants. This began in 1920 when the Coal Industry Act compelled mining companies to pay 1d per ton of coal produced into a welfare fund of which 80% was spent within mining communities on recreation, health and education, in accordance with the requirements of the communities themselves. The purpose of the fund was to help redress the most appalling social and living conditions in mining communities as evidenced by a Royal Commission headed by Lord Sankey in 1919.

At the insistence of the Treasury Solicitor all new facilities were to be established on Charitable Trusts where the trusteeship was equitably held between representatives of the owners and representatives of the workmen. By 1952 the Miners’ Welfare Fund had granted the acquisition and development of land, or grant aided existing community facilities, in 31 locations throughout what was deemed the Somerset coalfield. In total those facilities comprised 7 games rooms, 19 billiard tables, 2 libraries, 14 reading rooms, three boys clubs, to skittle alleys, 12 halls seating 1070 people, 3 cinemas seating 350 people, 4 cricket pitches, 15 football pitches, 3 bowling greens, 15 children’s playgrounds and 9 pavilions.

Image from the Radstock Museum

Recreational facilities.

In May 1922 a grant of £362 was provided for the purchase of a 4.24 acre site to be laid out as a recreation ground. The outdoor facilities contained a soccer pitch, children’s playground and pavilion. The one tenth of an acre institute site was a separate location, the freehold of which was purchased in 1950. This was originally the Village Club, the lease of which was assigned to mining trustees in 1934. This charity is regulated by a Charity Commission Scheme made March 1973 and is known as the Camerton Recreation Centre.

In 1923 a grant allowed for the purchase of a small parcel of land and the erection of an institute on the edge of the colliery curtilage. This facility continues on mining trusts.

The initial grant in 1924 was for the acquisition of land and the erection of a reading room. The institute also contained 2 billiard tables and the hall was able to seat up to 130 people.

This was originally a full acre site leased in 1948 from the Duchy of Cornwall and the Miners’ Welfare Commission provided grant aid for the laying out of tennis courts, skittle alley, children’s playground and the subsequent development of a soccer pitch. There was a separate institute on a site of 460 square yards leased in 1935.

Grants were made in 1924 and 1927 to the Gurney Slade Miners’ Welfare Association to purchase a billiard table and piano for the hall. This could have referred to an existing village hall.

The 3.84 acre site was purchased in May 1922 and contained a cricket pitch, soccer pitch, children’s playground and pavilion. Regulated by a Charity Commission scheme and known as the High Littleton Recreation Ground.

The initial grant provided for the erection of a portable building on what would appear to be leasehold land and subsequent grant aid related to the purchase of equipment. The whole contained a billiard table and could seat 50 people.

This was known as the Moorewood and Nettlebridge Miners’ Welfare Association and in 1924 a grant of £150 was provided for the erection of a reading and recreation room, which was believed to be held on leasehold land.

A grant of £1000 was made in 1922 for the purchase of an 8 acre site and its subsequent development. The site contained soccer pitch, Bowling Green, children’s playground and large open space. The trusteeship has been held by the parish council since 1973. The facility and the Parish Council’s role as trustee was recently subject to a Charity Commission inquiry, which found that the Parish Council had not followed the requirements of the 1993 Charities Act and had applied some of the limited economic gain from permitting tipping on the recreation ground for the benefit of municipal facilities rather than for the charity itself.

The original site of 123 square yards for the institute was acquired in 1987. Additional land was purchased in 1928 and 1954. The charity is now regulated by a 1972 Charity Commission scheme.

This recreation ground was acquired with the grant in May 1922 and originally contained an institute, football ground and children’s play area. The trusteeship was passed to the then Norton Radstock Urban District Council in 1942, who subsequently leased the institute building to a charity known as the Westhill Gardens Sports Pavilion Scheme.

An existing World War One Memorial Hole which was granted which was grant aided in 1927 with the provision of a billiard table and in 1931 with the provision of furniture.

A 7.5 acre site conveyed to mining trustees in December 1923 following an initial grant made of £520 in January 1923. The site contains a new institute with reading room, 2 billiard tables and a games room. The outdoor facilities included a soccer pitch and children’s playground. The trusteeship was transferred to the Parish Council in July 1969.

This was an existing reading room granted between 1927 and 1931 primarily preferred the provision of furniture.

A one acre site conveyed to mining trustees in February 1934 following a grant of £821. The institute contained a whole setting 100 people, a reading room, a billiard table and a games room. The charity is now regulated by a Charity Commission Scheme dated 1 June 1977.

A grant was made available in January 1926, of £450, to erect a hall on a site leased for 42 years from the 25 March 1926. The land leased was part of Downside Farm. The hall contained a billiard table and cinema seating able to seat up to 120 people. Upon expiry a new lease could have been given to non-mining trustees, as there is a village hall registered as a charity.

There was an existing village hall and the miners welfare Commission, in 1934, provided a billiard table and oil lamps.

A grant in 1931 to purchase one acre and develop an institute. Known as the Clutton Village Hall Charity with the parish council as trustee.

A grant of £404 was made in October 1922 for the purchasing layout of a 5.5 acre site. The facility contained a cricket pitch, soccer pitch, children’s playground and pavilion and the trusteeship has been with the Parish Council since 1973.

Grant aid was provided to a charity vested in the Rector and Churchwardens but subsequently vested by Ministry of Education Order (31 May 1954) in the Hemington, Hardington and Foxcot Parish Council.

This small institute was originally sited on land leased in May 1928 from Lord Hylton, which contained a billiard table, reading room and hall seating 100 people. Upon expiry of the lease the institute was known as the ‘Q’ Club.

Originally land was acquired in May 1926 for the construction of a small hall which could seat 60 people and contained a reading room and billiard table. Additional land was acquired in 1958. Now known as the Holcombe Village Hall, the Parish Council has been trustee since 1970.

An extremely interesting facility in that it was originally the home of Welton Rovers Football Club who, in 1920, had acquired a four-acre site, the purchase being made by the Welton Rovers Football and Sports Company. However, by 1924 they were seriously in debt and it appears that the Miners’ Welfare Fund purchased the site from the football club but allowed them to continue playing their. Tennis courts were provided in 1925 and a grandstand in 1930. There was also a bowling green with an additional pavilion and the trusteeship is now held by Norton Radstock Town Council.

A four-acre site originally acquired through a grant of £500 in 1928, when 4 acres was to be laid out as a recreation ground with small institute. The institute contained a reading room and seating for 100 people. The recreation ground contained a football pitch, bowling green, children’s playground and pavilion. The trusteeship is held by the Norton Radstock Town Council, but the bowling green and pavilion are leased by the Town Council, as trustee, to Norwest bowls clubs.

The largest of the Somerset recreational facilities which contained a small institute with reading room and seating for 120 people, soccer pitch, children’s playground and large open space. The institute commenced in 1926 when a grant of £567 was used to purchase an existing building. An adjacent building was acquired in 1929 and the institute comprised a billiard table, reading room and boys youth club. The hall could seat 100 people. Now subdivided into two charities: a recreation ground and a children’s playground. The Parish Council has been trustee of both since 1996.

A recreation ground purchased in 1923 from Sir Frank Beauchamp was laid out for various sports, including a quoits pitch, but was reconveyed to Sir Frank in 1935. He sold the site to the Wells family in 1938. They sold the site to the trustees of the Springfield Tyning and District Sports Field in 1948, who in turn sold the southerly part of the recreation ground to C. Dowling in February 1949.

The recreation ground was acquired with grant aid in June 1923 and the trusteeship was transferred to the parish council in 1973. The facility comprised a small hall seating 100 people and contained a reading room and games room. The outdoor facilities included soccer pitch, children’s playground and pavilion.

An existing facility for which five grants were made between 1939 and 1951 for furnishings and equipment.

A 7.6 acre site acquired in September 1925. The facilities contained a soccer pitch, children’s playground and large open space. The trusteeship has been held by the parish council since 1970.

Health & Education

Health

The Miners Welfare Fund also provided grant aid for health facilities. Between 1929 and 1937 £2925 was provided for the construction and equipment of a new wing for the hospital at Paulton. In 1920, £1500 was provided towards the building costs of a new Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Specifically for injured miners, between 1933 and 1935, £8000 was provided to endow a fund known as the Somerset Hospital and Convalescent Home Fund. The income was used to help provide treatment at hospitals and subsequent recuperative convalescence for miners who were seriously injured at work.

Education

Many regions also provided granted for minors, miners’ wives or their dependent children of miners who were studying at university. Interestingly, there is only one grant recorded in Somerset between 1920 and 1952 and that was for a Miss Violet Wilcox who was granted £20 as a student on 20 September 1932. There is no additional information on her place of study or course.

In conclusion.

Between 1920 and 1952 £40,000 of grant aid was provided by the Miners’ Welfare Fund to facilitate the introduction development and maintenance of recreational facilities for the Somerset coalfield: an extraordinary amount of money in today’s terms.

Generations of Somerset people, particularly young people, have enjoyed these recreational facilities. Many of them still survive and thrive today. Their existence is due to the generosity of the Miners’ Welfare Fund, to the commitment of many individuals who acted as trustees, sports and club leaders, and to the miners who made the weekly contributions from their limited wages towards the maintenance of the facilities. The recreational legacy of the mining industry is in the Somerset coalfield is something to be proud of.

Note: The information on recreational facilities was originally collated by Vernon Jones MBE, Secretary of the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation 1996-2016 in the late 1990s. Local government changes may mean that some councils named above have since been subsumed in new councils.