What you may not know about Nailsea

Nailsea's economy was based on coal mining which began as early as the 16th century. By the late 1700s, the town had a large number of pits and was visited by the social reformer Hannah More who founded a Sunday school for the workers.

Nailsea's coal mines attracted John Robert Lucas, a glass manufacturer, in 1788 and the glass works he established eventually became the fourth largest of their kind in the United Kingdom.

The works closed in 1873 but "Nailsea" glass is still sought after by collectors around the world.

The site of the glass works is covered by a supermarket car park lleaving it accessible for future archaeological digs. Remains of many of the old pits are still visible around Nailsea.