Norton Radstock is a small conurbation and large civil parish in Bath and North East Somerset, England. It has a population of 21,325 according to the 2001 census. The term Norton Radstock is not recognised by local residents, neither does it appear on any road map. It consists of the twin towns of Midsomer Norton and Radstock. Midsomer Norton lies on the River Somer, while the Wellow Brook and the Fosseway Roman road run through Radstock. The town is north of the Mendip Hills. The parish includes the smaller settlements of Clandown and Haydon.

The towns originally grew around coal mining on the Somerset coalfield, and lay on the Somersetshire Coal Canal.

Since the mines closed in the early 1970s, the towns have become commuter towns with residents working in Bristol or Bath. Some manufacturing industry still exists in the area, namely printing, binding and packaging.

Midsomer Norton was originally called Midsummer Norton due to its inaccessibility caused by frequent flooding during the other seasons. Sometime in the early 20th Century the name was changed to Midsomer Norton to reflect its location on the River Somer. The oldest building in Midsomer Norton is the Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost, which is a 15th century tithe barn converted by the famous architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. The Anglican church of St John the Baptist has a 17th century west tower, but the rest was rebuilt in Gothic style by John Pinch the younger in 1830-1831 and was extended in the 20th century with new chancel and lady chapel.

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Radstock is home to the Radstock museum, housed in its former market hall. It is also home to an important ecological site Radstock Railway Sidings and an important geological site Writhlington SSSI.

The parish was created in 1974 as a successor to the Norton-Radstock urban district that had been created in 1933 by the merger of Midsomer Norton and Radstock urban districts, along with part of Frome Rural District. [1]. Under the Local Government Act 1972 it became a successor parish to the urban district.

Radstock is home to Writhlington School, famous for its Orchid collection and its links with Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala. The school houses the biggest collection of Orchids outside Kew Gardens. The school also attained the best Media Arts results in the country in the 2006 A-level examinations. In addition to this, it was named the most enterprising school in England and recieved the award on the 16th of November, 2006.[2]