Bygone Days talk by Midsomer Norton Mayor

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Until the 1800s, most of Somerset’s mines were leased from local landowners for a fixed sum plus a one-tenth royalty on al coal raised. The Duchy of Cornwall owned the land around Midsomer Norton. and the coalminers here continued to be leased from them. The Beauchamp family leased the coalminers around Midsomer Norton; William Beauchamp was manager at Vobster Colliery in 1866. Over the latter half of the century he invested in a number of other collieries and with his son Frank, built up the Writhlington Colliery Company which by 1925, was able to buy out the Waldergraves (land and colliery owners of Radstock and Writhlington area). By nationalisation, Sir Frank Beauchamp’s miners were responsible for nearly 50% of the coalfield’s output, and in 1947 the National Coal Board took over his home at Woodbrough House (now demolished) on the edge of Peasedown as their regional offices. Photo: Sir Frank Beauchamp.