[1] The name Montacute is thought by some to derive from the Latin "Mons Acutus", referring to the conically acute St Michael's Hill dominating the village to the west.

An alternative view is that it is named after Drogo de Montagu, whose family originated from Montaigu-les-Bois, in the arrondissement of Coutances.

The hill became known at some time before 1086 by the Latin name of Mons Acutus, meaning "Sharp Mountain", being referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Montagud", within the manor of Biscopestone (Bishopstone): Ipse Comes (Moriton) tenet in dominio Biscopestone et ibi est castellum eius quod vocatur Montagud.

[5] According to the Duchess of Cleveland (Battle Abbey Roll, 1889): "(Drogo de Montaigu) had come to England in the train of the Earl of Mortain, and received from him large grants of lands, with the custody of the castle, built either by the Earl or his son William, in the manor of Bishopston, and styled, from its position on a sharp-topped hill, Monte Acuto"[5] (sic, Mons Acutus).

The last Anglo-Saxons to own it before the Norman Conquest of 1066 were Tofig (d.1043), then successively his son Athelstan (or Æthelstan) and his grandson Asgar.

In 1030 (1035 in some records) following a series of dreams in which the Devil told him where to dig, a local blacksmith found buried on St Michael's Hill a black flint crucifix or Holy Rood.

[11] The oxen pulling the wagon (six red and six white in one version of the tale) refused to move until he said Waltham in Essex, where Tofig already had a hunting lodge.

In the meantime, Tofig rebuilt the church at Waltham to house the cross, on which he bestowed his own sword, and his second wife Gytha (or Glitha), the daughter of Osgod Clapa, adorned the figure with a crown, bands of gold and precious stones.

The Holy Rood is said to have foretold Harold's defeat at Hastings: on the way there from the Battle of Stamford Bridge he stopped off at Waltham Abbey to pray, and the legend is that the cross "bowed down" off the wall as he did so, taken as a portent of doom.

Following the invasion of 1066 it was held by Robert, Count of Mortain, who built the motte-and-bailey Montacute Castle on St Michael's Hill (the Mons Acutus) in 1068.

[18] Montacute Castle was besieged by Saxon rebels from Somerset, Dorset and neighbouring areas in 1069 and its relief required the assembly of a considerable force, drawn chiefly from the Norman garrisons of London, Winchester and Salisbury.

Joseph Bettey has suggested that "the devastation in the surrounding area which followed the English defeat may explain why so many manors in south Somerset are recorded in the Domesday Survey as having decreased in value".

[20] Village tradition has it that two hilltop fortifications were built: first a wooden clamshell fort with motte & bailey, later replaced by a stone castle.

Considerable motte & bailey earthworks are built into St Michael's Hill, which the Somerset County Archeologist unit incorrectly suggests were wine-growing terraces.

The other dwelling site is on the north side of Batemore barn, close to the bottom of the ancient hollow-way (now filled in) known as "Foister's Gully".

Little remains of this and it has not been excavated, but may have been the residence of highwayman Richard Foister/Foster/Forster, remembered locally as the last man to be gibbeted alive in England.

Ham Hill stone was burnt to make soil fertiliser, the lime was of poor quality for building due to its high iron content which made mortar blow.

An area of grass parkland lies to the east of the village; this formed the eastern approach to Montacute House though the drive through the park is now unused.

Another ancient track struck northeast from The Borough toward Ilchester, and is revealed by the housing layout but the route across the park has been lost.

The geology supports a wide range of fauna including mammals, birds, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians living on lichens, fungi, ferns and flowering plants.

[35] Typical for South West England, Montacute has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country.

[36] In summer high pressure in the Azores often affects the south-west, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine.

The highest mean wind speeds occur from November to March, whilst June to August sees the lowest.

[40] An Anglo-Saxon Hamstone font lay unidentified in the churchyard for many years, but has now been reinstated replacing its Tudor successor.

[39] Little now remains of the Cluniac Montacute Priory, which fell during the Reformation,[41] except the inaccurately named "Abbey Gatehouse" (a private dwelling) and its attached stew pond and pigeon cote.

[45] Llewelyn Powys, in his "Somerset Essays", devoted a chapter to Thomas Shoel (1759-1823), a native of the village who wrote poetry and composed music including many hymn tunes, some of them still well known[46] In John Cowper Powys's novel first Wood and Stone (1915) the fictional village of Nevilton is based on Montacute.