Coordinates: 50°58′11″N 3°05′27″W / 50.9698°N 3.0908°W / 50.9698; -3.0908

Corfe is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated below the Blackdown Hills 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. The village has a population of 262.

The parish of Corfe was part of the Taunton Deane Hundred. The village, along with nearby Pitminster was a tithing of Bishop of Winchester. In the 12th century the bishop granted to Taunton Priory an estate on the boundary between the parishes which became known as Barton Grange, most of which was demolished in 1931. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was granted to the lawyer Humphrey Colles and passed down through his successors.

The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council’s operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. 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. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

Mary Portas aka Mary Queen of Shops (born 28 May 1960), is an English businesswoman, retail expert, and broadcaster, best-known for her retail and business related television shows, and most recently for her appointment by the British prime minister to lead a review into the future of Britain's high streets.

Portas was born and brought up in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in a family of five children. She was educated at St Joan of Arc Catholic School, Rickmansworth. Her mother died of meningits when Portas was aged 16, and her father, a sales director of Brooke Bond, the tea manufacturer, died of a heart attack two years later forcing Portas, aged 18, to turn down a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in order to look after her younger brother.

Portas started her career in retail with a Saturday job in John Lewis. She then had a part-time, and later a full-time, job with Harrods where she was responsible for window displays for about three years, before joining TopShop as display manager. While in this job, she was spotted by Burton Group chairman Sir Ralph Halpern.