Otterford

---

title: "Otterford" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-taunton-deane", "civil-parishes-in-somerset"] description: "Village and civil parish in Somerset, England" topic_path: "general/villages-in-taunton-deane" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otterford" 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	Otterford church.jpg
static_image_alt	Stone building with square tower.
static_image_caption	Church of St Leonard, Otterford
country	England
coordinates
official_name	Otterford
population	356
population_ref	(2011)
unitary_england	Somerset Council
lieutenancy_england	Somerset
region	South West England
constituency_westminster	Taunton and Wellington
post_town	Chard
postcode_district	TA20
postcode_area	TA
dial_code	01823
os_grid_reference	ST225145
::

|static_image_name=Otterford church.jpg |static_image_alt=Stone building with square tower. |static_image_caption=Church of St Leonard, Otterford |country = England |coordinates = |official_name= Otterford |population = 356 |population_ref = (2011) | unitary_england = Somerset Council | lieutenancy_england = Somerset |region = South West England |constituency_westminster= Taunton and Wellington |post_town= Chard |postcode_district = TA20 |postcode_area= TA |dial_code= 01823 |os_grid_reference= ST225145 Otterford is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated on the Blackdown Hills, 7 mi south of Taunton. The village has a population of 356.

The River Otter rises close to Otterford.

History

A series of round barrows on Brown Down are known as Robin Hood's Butts.

The village was named Oteriford in a Taunton charter of 854 by King Æthelwulf of Wessex.

The parish of Otterford was 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, Otterford was part of Taunton Rural District.

It is also part of the Taunton and Wellington 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.

Religious sites

The parish Church of St Leonard dates from the 14th century, but was restored, the nave wall rebuilt and the north aisle added in 1860, with further restoration taking place in 1924.

References

References

1. "Statistics for Wards, LSOAs and Parishes — SUMMARY Profiles". Somerset Intelligence.
2. {{NHLE
3. {{NHLE
4. {{NHLE
5. Bush, Robin. (1994). "Somerset: The complete guide". Dovecote Press.
6. "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI.
7. "Taunton RD". University of Portsmouth.
8. {{NHLE

::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. ::