Pennard, West, a village 5 m.  S. from Shepton Mallet, with a station on S. and D. line to Glastonbury.  The church, which stands some little distance away, is a large and strikingly handsome Perp. building of uniform design (temp. Edward IV.).  The W. tower carries a lead spire.  Its chief interest is its general comeliness.  It has neither chapels nor monuments.  One or two features, however, are deserving of notice:  (1) good screen; (2) large squint (containing rood stairway) on N.; (3) corresponding doorway on S.; (4) stoup at W. doorway.  In the churchyard is a good cross bearing emblems of the Passion on its base (cp.  Doulting).

Penselwood, a parish 4 m.  N.E. of Wincanton.  It occupies high ground, which in early times has been strongly defended.  Hard by are the British earthwork known as Cenwealh’s Castle, and the Norm, moated mound called Orchard Castle.  In the neighbourhood, too, are Pen-Pits, circular cavities in the ground (extending over 200 acres), which are believed to have been excavated for the purpose of obtaining grindstones.  The parish church, mainly Perp., retains a Norm.  S. door (note the carving on the lintel) and a Norm. font; and over the gable of a door in the S. wall is another piece of carving (the Virgin and Child and two kneeling figures), which probably was, once part of the cross.  There are some bits of early glass in one of the windows.  One of the bells is said to date from the 13th cent.

Pensford, a village with a station on the G.W.R.  Frome and Bristol line.  It lies immediately at the foot of a lofty viaduct, which commands a pretty prospect of the valley of the Chew.  Like other places on the bank of a stream, the village was once the centre of a brisk cloth trade.  The church has been rebuilt, but contains a Jacobean pulpit and a Perp. font (cp.  Dundry).  The inverted fragment of a piscina may be seen in the churchyard, built into the wall of a shed.

Perrott, North, a small village on the Parrett (which doubtless gives it its name), 2 m.  N.E. of Crewkerne.  The church is a small cruciform Perp. structure of rather poor workmanship, with a low central tower.  The tower arches are panelled, and there is a piscina in the chancel.  The manor house hard by is a handsome gabled modern mansion.  In the parish Roman remains have been discovered.  The companion village of South Perrott is in Dorset.

Petherton, North, a village 3 m.  S.W. of Bridgwater, deriving its name from the neighbouring Parrett.  In the time of Alfred the country around was one of the royal forests, the others being Selwood, Mendip, Neroche, and Exmoor.  There is a fine church, with a noble tower, perhaps the best of its class.  It belongs to the type that is characterised by double windows in the belfry, but is more elaborate than most of its compeers.  The stages are divided by bands of quatrefoils (cp.  Huish and Kingsbury), whilst the wall-face above the belfry windows is beautifully