Highbridge was historically a hamlet and chapelry in the large ancient parish of Burnham. It briefly became a separate civil parish in 1894, but in 1896 the civil parish was abolished and divided between the new civil parishes of North Highbridge and Burnham Without. The town had by then expanded south of the River Brue into the parish of Huntspill, and in 1896 the new parish of South Highbridge was carved out of Huntspill parish. North Highbridge and South Highbridge together formed the Highbrige Urban District. The 1931 census listed a population of 2,585. In 1933 the Urban District was abolished and merged into Burnham-on-Sea Urban District. In the 1974 local government reforms, this became a civil parish within the new District of Sedgemoor. The civil parish is now known as Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge, with a single town council.