Passenham / Pasham

"PASSENHAM, (or Pasham), a parish in the hundred of Cleley, county Northampton, 1¼ mile S.W. of Stony Stratford, its post town. The village, which is of ancient date, is situated on the river Ouse, and is wholly agricultural. The parish includes the hamlets of Denshanger, Puxley, and Old Stratford. It is mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle as the place where the army of Edward the Elder lay whilst he was fortifying Towcester against the Danes. This parish is divided from the county of Buckingham by the river Ouse, and is traversed by the Buckingham canal. At Shrob Lodge, in this parish, lived the well-known antiquary, Browne Willis. A large portion of Whittle-Wood Forest encroaches on this parish. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1772. The living is a rectory with the curacy of Denshanger annexed, in the diocese of Peterborough, value £650. The church, dedicated to St. Guthlake, is an ancient stone structure, with a square tower containing five bells. The church is clothed in ivy, and in the interior is a monument to Sir Robert Banastre, Kt., bearing date 1649. The whole of the edifice was restored in 1626. The parochial charities produce about £52 per annum, of which £3 goes to a school. There is a village school for both sexes.

"DENSHANGER, a hamlet in the parish of Passenham, hundred of Cleley, in the county of Northampton, 1½ mile S.W. of Stoney Stratford. The Buckingham canal runs through the village. The living is a curacy in the diocese of Peterborough, annexed to the rectory of Passenham. Lord Maynard is lord of the manor."