Cotford St Luke () is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It is located approximately northwest of

Norton Fitzwarren Norton Fitzwarren is a village, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated north west of Taunton. The village has a population of 3,046. History The village is on the southern slope of Norton Camp, a large hillfort that s ...

and south of

Bishops Lydeard Bishops Lydeard () is a village and civil parish located in Somerset, England, north-west of Taunton. The civil parish encompasses the hamlets of East Lydeard and Terhill, and had a population of 2,839 persons as recorded in the 2011 census; th ...

. The population recorded by the 2021 census is 2,642. The village was established following the closure of Tone Vale Hospital and Cotford Asylum in the 1990s. The old asylum buildings were either demolished or converted into housing commencing in the late 1990s.

Civil parish

In 2011 the civil parish of Cotford St Luke was created; previously the village was part of Bishop's Lydeard civil parish – the new parish was formed entirely out of that parish. On 5 May 2011, Cotford St Luke Parish Council was first elected; seven parish councillors were elected un-opposed. In 2024, a series of resignations left the parish council without any members or a clerk. The civil parish is in area.

Amenities and landmarks

The former hospital chapel – which was dedicated to

Saint Luke Luke the Evangelist was one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Prominent figu ...

– is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

built in the 1890s, and is located in the centre of the village. It has been converted into a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

/restaurant, called 'The Chapel', which opened on 13 July 2008 after being derelict for 18 years. The village has a

Southern Co-operative Southern Co-op (originally Portsea Island Mutual Co-operative Society Ltd, now The Southern Co-operative Limited) is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The principal activities of the Society are food retailing, funeral hom ...

convenience store located near the centre, as well as a community centre/

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

which is situated next to the primary school in the south of the village, where there is also a

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

and sports facilities.

Education

Cotford St Luke Primary School is situated on the southern edge of the village. It was built on what were the grounds of the asylum playing fields and opened in September 2003. The school has 10 classes and caters for children from 4 to 11 years, with a pre-school on site for children from the age of 3 years. The catchment area secondary school is Kingsmead School in

Wiveliscombe Wiveliscombe (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Taunton. The town has a population of 2,893. The Square, fronted by several listed structures, held the former market. The parish includes the nearby hamlet o ...

. The school provides a free bus service for children in its catchment areas including Cotford St Luke. The 2021 census recorded 27.4% of the population as being under 18.

Health

Dene Barton Community Hospital is a modern hospital located on the eastern side of the village, and has 40 beds for elderly patients needing

acute care Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery.Alberta Health ServicesAcute care.Acce ...

or rehabilitation. It is operated by the

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is a NHS foundation trust providing services for National Health Service (England), NHS England in Somerset, England. It manages a number of hospitals providing Psychiatric hospital, mental, Community hospital, commu ...

and the Somerset Neurological Rehabilitation Centre is located there.

Religion

St Luke's Centre has been constructed near St Luke's chapel, and was opened by the

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...

on 21 October 2019, to serve as a parish centre of worship and a community hub for the village. Like the old hospital chapel, it is

dedicated to Dedicated may refer to: Music * Dedicated Records, a British record label Albums * ''Dedicated'' (ATB album), 2002 * ''Dedicated'' (Renée Geyer album), 2007 * ''Dedicated'' (Carly Rae Jepsen album), 2019 * ''Dedicated'' (Lemar album), 200 ...

Luke the Evangelist. The village forms part of the

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of 'Heathfield with Cotford St. Luke', with the Church of St John the Baptist in Heathfield serving as the parish church. The 2021 census recorded 43.9% of the population as being

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

Public transport

Cotford St Luke is served by the 25 (

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

– Wiveliscombe –

Dulverton Dulverton is a town and civil parish in west Somerset, England, near the border with Devon. The town had a population of 1,408 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the hamlets of Battleton and Ashwick which is located approximately north w ...

) and 28A (Taunton –

Watchet Watchet is a harbour town, civil parish and electoral ward in the county of Somerset, England, with a population in 2011 of 3,785. It is situated west of Bridgwater, north-west of Taunton, and east of Minehead. The town lies at the mouth of ...

–

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and close to the Exmoor National Park. T ...

) scheduled bus services, provided by

The Buses of Somerset The Buses of Somerset was a brand used by FirstGroup for its buses in Somerset from its depots in Taunton and other towns from 2014 until 2024. The services were initially operated by its First Somerset & Avon subsidiary but were soon transferr ...

.FirstBus
Somerset timetables The nearest railway station is

, which is on the

West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset Council. The railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc), which is suppor ...

, a heritage line. The nearest mainline station is

Notes

References

External links

Cotford St Luke Parish Council
{{Taunton Deane Villages in Taunton Deane Civil parishes in Somerset Populated places established in the 1990s 2011 establishments in England