The village has experienced a significant reduction in local services, with the police station, post office and shops closing throughout the early 2000s.

The earliest signs of habitation can be found a mile to the east of the current village, where the Roman road from Bath to Poole passed.

Norton developed a thriving wool trade and became the site of a regional market, signs of which can be seen in local surnames such as Weaver.

[2] Norton St Philip was the site of the Battle of Norton St Philip during the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, and the east–west street on the village's northern edge, officially recorded as Chevers Lane, is referred to locally as Bloody Lane, reportedly as the battle caused so much bloodshed it flowed down this hill.

[5] The inn became part of the stage coach route between London and the South West; on 12 June 1668 the noted diarist Samuel Pepys, with his wife and servants, passed through Norton St Philip on their way to Bath from Salisbury.

It is also part of the Frome and East Somerset county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

[9] After a series of traffic incidents involving damage to residents' cars, a weight limit of 7.5 t was introduced for vehicles driving through the village.

[10] The D2 bus, operated by First West of England, runs an hourly service with a stops located near the cross roads in the centre of the village.