Pensax is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of northwest

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, incorporating the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Menithwood to the west of Pensax Common. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 317. Pensax borders the parishes of

Stockton-on-Teme Stockton on Teme is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the county of Worcestershire, England. It is close to the River Teme and is noted for its 12th century Norman church with an unusual circular graveyardphoto. The c ...

, Abberley, Rock and

Lindridge Lindridge is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the north of the county of Worcestershire, England, near the Shropshire border and the town of Tenbury Wells Tenbury Wells (locally Tenbury) is a market town and civil ...

. It is home to a multiple

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is ...

award-winning pub, 'The Bell', which won 'West Midlands Pub of The Year' in 2007. Besides The Bell, Pensax is home to a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

(dedicated to St. James the Great) built 1832 and a small village hall. A local primary school, Pensax

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

school, closed in 2003.

History

The name Pensax is a combination of the Celtic words "pen" (hilltop) and "sais" (Englishman, Saxon). Unlike many English place names with Celtic elements, the modifier follows the basic noun, as is customary in Celtic languages. This indicates that Brittonic speakers coined the name, rather than

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

speakers borrowing a Brittonic element. The close village of Menith Wood also has a Celtic name meaning mountain/hill, this time derived from the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it h ...

word "mynydd". Nearby, too, lies the

River Teme The River Teme (pronounced ; cy, Afon Tefeidiad) rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown, and flows southeast roughly forming the border between England and Wales for several miles through Knighton before entering England in the vicinity of B ...

, whose name comes from the Celtic "tamesis" (the dark one), the same as the rivers Thames and Tame. All of this points to a strong Celtic speaking population having still resided in this area after the

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

s migrated into the region and took over the local government. Following the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...

Pensax Parish ceased to be responsible for maintaining the poor in its parish. This responsibility was transferred to Martley Poor Law Union.''Worcestershire Family History Guidebook'', Vanessa Morgan, 2011, p68 The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire. For local government purposes Pensax forms part of the district of Malvern Hills.

References

External links

photos of Pensax and surrounding area on geograph
* Villages in Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire {{worcestershire-geo-stub