Shapwick is the site of one end of the Sweet Track, a 6,000-year-old, ancient, wooden causeway, dating from the 39th century BC.

[2] Following a Treasure Inquest in Taunton, the hoard was valued and acquired in its entirety by Somerset County Museums Service for the sum of £265,000.

The manor of Shapwick originally belonged to Glastonbury Abbey, forming part of its Pouholt (Polden) estate in 729.

Shapwick Heath is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and national nature reserve[15] It is a former raised bog lying in the basin of the River Brue.

National rarities are the large marsh grasshopper (Stethophyma grossum) found on sphagnum moss bogs, the greater silver diving beetle (Hydrophilus piceus) and the lesser silver diving beetle (Hydrochara caraboides) which is now confined nationally to the Brue Basin Peat Moors.

[16] The adjoining Shapwick Moor has been purchased by the Hawk and Owl Trust and will be their first reserve in south west England.

The first steps in the creation of the nature reserve are to reseed the land and then reintroduce Devon ruby red cattle to the site.

[18] Birds identified at the site include: buzzard, sparrowhawk, kestrel, hobby,[19] red kite, barn owl, lapwing, pheasant, cuckoo, woodpecker and skylark.

In 2012, the musician Jon Brookes (also known as 'The Advisory Circle' of the Ghost Box record label)[36] released the electronica album Shapwick (on the Clay Pipe record label[37]) based on "an imaginary impression of" the village and its surrounding countryside, following an unplanned car journey through the area one autumn evening: "I felt a certain energy around the place.

The images created by the trees in the dark conjured inspiration and it struck me that an album could be based on an imaginary impression of this area.

The film for Shapwick features Darren performing his song based on the folk tale "The Mistletoe Bride" in locations around the village.