PENSELWOOD, a parish, with a village, in Wincanton district, Somerset; adjacent to Dorset and Wilts, 3½ miles N E by E of Wincanton r. station. Post-town, Wincanton. Acres, 1, 101. Real property, with Brook, £3, 372. Rated property of P. alone, £1, 497. Pop., 442. Houses, 107. The property is much subdivided. The manor belongs to the Earl of Ilchester and Sir H. A. Hoare, Bart. Forest Lodge is a chief residence. A barrow and the site of a very ancient church are at Ballands. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £180.* Patrons, the Earl of Ilchester and Sir H. A. Hoare, Bart. The church is later English; was restored in 1849; consists of nave, aisle, and chancel, withporch and tower; and contains an old font, a piscina, and several monuments. There are a Primitive Methodistchapel and a national school.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))