Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles (eight kilometres) north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset.

[10] Ilchester has been associated with the Cair Pensa vel Coyt [11] listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons, on the basis that it should be read as an Old Welsh form of 'Penselwood'[12] (coit being Welsh for "forest"), although others view it as three separate words: Pensa or Coyt.

[16] It was dissolved in 1538, as part of the dissolution of the monasteries,[15] but the buildings continued to be used, as a silk mill and relief prison, particularly for Quakers,[17] until it was finally demolished in the early 19th century.

[18] From a branch of this family was possibly descended the influential Denys family of Devon, (arms: three Danish battle axes) seated at Orleigh, near Buckland Brewer, Devon, from the 12th to 17th centuries[19] In the early 14th century concerns were raised about the management of the nunnery and the poverty of the nuns.

[25] Ilchester was the parliamentary seat of Sir William Manners (later Lord Huntingtower) in 1803 and 1806; however, it is said that he maintained his position by demolishing the houses of his opponents and putting them in the workhouse which meant they were not able to vote.

He was succeeded as Member of Parliament by the Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, author of The School for Scandal.

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.

[28] 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.

[29] It is also part of the Glastonbury and Somerton county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

As well as the Town Hall, the Trust has ownership of the Roman cemetery in Northover and the Ilchester sportsfield.

The Trust was established in 1889, upon the dissolution of the historic corporation that had governed the town (the Bailiff and Burgesses).

It is located in the heart of the village, in the Church Rooms next to St Mary Major, its most recent Ofsted was in 2012 where it was rated as GOOD, particularly in safeguarding and relationships with parents.