[1] Shipham was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sipeham, meaning 'The sheep home' from the Old English scip and ham.

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.

In 2008, Shipham Parish Council won the communications category of the Calor Somerset Village of the Year competition.

[5] It is also part of the Wells and Mendip Hills county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The village has a panorama over Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel which is mentioned in The Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. Wells: But the loveliness of the weather did not fail, and the whole day was set in Severn landscapes.

Its mining history has given rise to street names such as Hind Pits Lane, Hollow Road, and Comrade Avenue.

[12] The Anglican parish church of St Leonard was built in 1843 by James Wilson of Bath and is a Grade II listed building.

A chest tomb to Amelia Day in the churchyard, 5 metres (16 ft) south of the nave, is also a listed building.