Oake

---

title: "Oake" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-taunton-deane", "civil-parishes-in-somerset", "grand-western-canal"] description: "Village and civil parish in Somerset, England" topic_path: "general/villages-in-taunton-deane" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oake" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village and civil parish in Somerset, England ::

::data[format=table title="infobox UK place"]

Field	Value
static_image_name	St Bartholomew's Church, Oake, Somerset.jpg
static_image_alt	Red stone church with square tower.
static_image_caption	Church of St Bartholomew, Oake
country	England
coordinates
official_name	Oake
population	765
population_ref	(2011)
unitary_england	Somerset Council
lieutenancy_england	Somerset
region	South West England
constituency_westminster	Tiverton and Minehead
post_town	TAUNTON
postcode_district	TA4
postcode_area	TA
dial_code	01823
os_grid_reference	ST155255
::

|static_image_name=St Bartholomew's Church, Oake, Somerset.jpg |static_image_alt=Red stone church with square tower. |static_image_caption= Church of St Bartholomew, Oake |country = England |coordinates = |official_name= Oake | population = 765 | population_ref = (2011) | unitary_england = Somerset Council | lieutenancy_england = Somerset |region= South West England |constituency_westminster= Tiverton and Minehead |post_town= TAUNTON |postcode_district = TA4 |postcode_area= TA |dial_code= 01823 |os_grid_reference= ST155255 Oake is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 5 mi west of Taunton. The village has a population of 765.

The parish includes the hamlet of Hillfarrance on Hillfarrance Brook a tributary of the River Tone, and the villages of Hillcommon and Heathfield.

The Sustrans cycle route 3 from Bristol to Padstow passes through the village, as does the route of the Grand Western Canal.

History

The village was named Acon in 897 based on the early presence of Oak trees. From Saxon times it formed part of the manor of Taunton Deane which belonged to the Bishop of Winchester.

The parishes of Heathfield and Hillfarrance were part of the Taunton Deane Hundred.

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.

For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023, the village comes under the unitary authority of Somerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of Somerset West and Taunton (formed on 1 April 2019) and, before this, the district of Taunton Deane (established under the Local Government Act 1972). From 1894-1974, for local government purposes, Oake was part of Wellington Rural District.

It is also part of the Tiverton and Minehead 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.

Geography

Between Oake and Bradford-on-Tone is Lang's Farm, a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which provides an example of unimproved, herb-rich neutral grassland of a type now rare in Britain.

Religious sites

The Church of the Holy Cross in Hillfarrance dates from the 14th century, with the tower being added in 1540, and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.

In Oake village the Church of St Bartholomew dates from the 13th century, whereas the Church of St John the Baptist in Heathfield retains its 13th-century tower but the rest of the church was largely rebuilt in 1841.

Hillcommon had a Methodist chapel which was built in 1846 but fell into disuse. It has now been converted into residential accommodation.

References

References

1. "Statistics for Wards, LSOAs and Parishes — SUMMARY Profiles". Somerset Intelligence.
2. Bush, Robin. (1994). "Somerset: The complete guide". The Dovecote Press Ltd.
3. "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI.
4. "Wellington RD". University of Portsmouth.
5. "Lang's Farm". English Nature.
6. Dunning, Robert. (2007). "Somerset Churches and Chapels: Building Repair and Restoration". Halsgrove.
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::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::