[1] The name comes from the hiwisc, the Saxon for homestead, and it was recorded in the Domesday book as Hiwis,[2] with the suffix marking its ownership by the family of Thomas de Champflower, who was Lord of the Manor by 1166.

[3] Just outside the village, on the road to the Brendon Hills and Clatworthy Reservoir, is Huish Champflower round barrow.

Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

It is also part of the Tiverton and Minehead county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

[8] The church includes stained glass claimed to be from the remains of a Jesse window from Barlynch Priory near Dulverton, and a 15th-century lectern.