Corfe

Corfe is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated below the Blackdown Hills 4 mi south of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. The village has a population of 262.

History
The parish of Corfe was part of the Taunton Deane Hundred. The village, along with nearby Pitminster was a tithing of Bishop of Winchester. In the 12th century the bishop granted to Taunton Priory an estate on the boundary between the parishes which became known as Barton Grange, most of which was demolished in 1931. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was granted to the lawyer Humphrey Colles and passed down through his successors.

Governance
The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council’s operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of Taunton Deane, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Taunton Rural District. The district council is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.

Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.

It is also part of the Taunton Deane county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election, and part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Religious sites
The parish Church of St Nicholas was a 1842 rebuilding, by Benjamin Ferrey of a Norman church on the same site. The south aisle was added in 1858 and tower was rebuilt. In 1969 the chancel was further restored. The Norman font survives.