The village grew around a coal pit opened in 1854 and was named after the August 1854 battle – part of the Crimean War – at the fort of Bomarsund in Sund, Åland Islands, now part of Finland. The village was home to the former Northumberland Brewery. Bomarsund won the National Village Cricket Championship in 1974. They beat a team from Collingham, Nottinghamshire by three wickets in the final, which was played at Edgbaston, after the original match at Lord's was rained off.