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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the district of

Somerset West and Taunton Somerset West and Taunton is a local government district in Somerset, England. It was established on 1 April 2019 by the Somerset West and Taunton (Local Government Changes) Order 2018. The council replaced the Taunton Deane and West Somerset co ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. Cotford St Luke is a new village that was established following the closure of Tone Vale Hospital and Cotford Asylum in the 1990s. The old asylum buildings were converted into housing commencing in the late 1990s.

Amenities and landmarks

The former hospital St Luke's chapel, which is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

built in the 1890s, was converted into a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

/restaurant and opened on 13 July 2008, after being derelict for 18 years. The pub closed in May 2011 and subsequently re-opened on 16 November 2012 under new ownership. It is called The Chapel. Dene Barton Community Hospital is a modern hospital located in 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.Acces ...

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

. The village also has a small supermarket and a community centre/

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

. St Luke's Centre was opened by the Bishop of Bath and Wells on 21 October 2019 as a Parish Centre of worship and a community Hub for the village of Cotford St. Luke.

Schools

Cotford St Luke Community Primary School is situated on the 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. The school provides a free bus service for children in the catchment areas including Cotford St Luke.

Public transport

Cotford St Luke is served by the number 25 scheduled bus service provided by

The Buses of Somerset The Buses of Somerset is the trading name used by bus operator First South West for services operated in Somerset from depots in the towns of Taunton and Bridgwater since 2014. The services were formerly managed as part of First Somerset & Avon ...

on the

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

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

Dulverton Dulverton is a small 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 ...

route. These run approximately every hour daytimes Monday to Saturday in both directions. Other destinations, including

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

and

Kingston St Mary Kingston St Mary is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated at the southern end of the Quantock Hills north of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 921. The parish includes the hamle ...

are also served but less frequently.

Civil parish

In 2011 Cotford St Luke civil parish was created; previously the village was part of

Bishops Lydeard Bishops Lydeard () is a village and civil parish located in Somerset, England, north-west of Taunton in the district of Somerset West and Taunton. The civil parish encompasses the hamlets of East Lydeard, Terhill, and East Bagborough, and had a ...

civil parish. On 5 May 2011, Cotford St Luke Parish Council was first elected. Seven parish councillors were elected un-opposed.

References

External links

Cotford St Luke Parish Council
* * {{Taunton Deane Villages in Taunton Deane Civil parishes in Somerset