A large part of the forest and open heath of the Quantock Hills is within the parish and it includes the hamlets of Plainsfield, Aley, Adscombe, Friarn and Bincombe.

[4] Plainsfield was a centre for weaving and pottery, the manor having been held by the family of Admiral Robert Blake from around 1600.

[4] In the 1830s three-quarters of the land of the parish was bought by Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton who built Quantock Lodge as his home which later became a school.

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

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