Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge is a civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish contains the towns of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 19,846.
History The parish was created under its current name in 1974 as part of wider local government reforms under the Local Government Act 1972. It was a successor parish, covering the area of the abolished Burnham-on-Sea Urban District.
The Burnham-on-Sea Urban District had its origins in a local board district called Burnham which had been created in 1850 and reconstituted as an urban district in 1894. The urban district was formally renamed from Burnham to Burnham-on-Sea in 1917.
Neighbouring Highbridge was made an urban district in 1896. The Highbridge Urban District was abolished in 1933 and its area absorbed into Burnham-on-Sea Urban District.
Governance There are two tiers of local government covering the parish, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge Town Council and Somerset Council. The town council is based at the Old Courthouse on Jaycroft Road in Burnham-on-Sea.
For national elections, the parish of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge forms part of the Bridgwater constituency.
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