PILL
Pill at high tide. On the left, the Red Lion and on the right, the Waterloo Inn.
Genealogy Records
Parish Registers, and Census Returns are held at the Somerset County Record Office, Taunton.
Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages from 1837 are held at the Bristol Register Office
1: My SPEAR Ancestry
2: 1841 Census of St George - District No 3 - Lodway and Pill
3: 1841 Census of St George - District No 4 - Pill
4: 1851 Census Index for St. George (including Pill)
5:
Pill New Dock Bill 1840
(Shedules of houseowners and tenants - includes names of some Pill residents)
A Brief History
Pill is a village situated on the banks of the Avon close to the mouth of the river, and some five miles from Bristol.
Pill dates from early times and was originally known as Crockerne Pill, although this name fell into disuse as early as the 16thC. There are several other "pills" or creeks nearby.
Before 1861 Pill, was included in the Parish of Easton in Gordano. Both villages, together with Lodway were in the Civil Parish of St. George. In 1841 the population of the hamlet of Pill was 1748 according to the Census of that year.
The parish church in Pill itself is named Christ Church which is a fairly recent building, with only some modern memorials. The original Christ Church was built as late as 1861, and was demolished after an air raid in 1941. Pill had only become an ecclesiactical Parish in 1861, and even after Christ Church was built, the burials rites remained at St Georges, in Easton-in-Gordano
Pill has always been in the Old County of Somerset, although recent changes in Local Authorities has it currently in the County borough of North Somerset.
The economy of the village was maritime in nature, with boat building yards, a dry dock, and ship breakers. Then there was the ferry across the river to Shirehampton on the Gloucestershire side. The creek at Pill was the base for many Bristol Channel pilot cutters, which used to guide ocean-going vessels into the Avon estuary and up to the port of Bristol. In 1863 there were 75 licenced pilots and 45 boats working out of Pill.
To serve the crews of all these ships, numerous inns and alehouses existed. Pill was famous for its pubs and it is said that every other house had a licence. This is of course an exaggeration, and no more than 22 public houses can be found at any one time, although numerous private householders sold ale. My Great-Great Grandfather, John SPEAR, owned several, including the Waterloo Tavern, the Rodney, and the Royal George where he died in 1861.
The village was at the mercy of some very high tides and flooded frequently, as can be seen in the photo above. There's a story that the old piano in the Waterloo had a scratch mark just above the keyboard to mark the highest flood level. This pub also had a low ceiling, and a dartboard which was hung very close up to it. Marks in the plaster in front of the dartboard were reputedly made by the locals who had learned how to go 'in-off' the ceiling and straight into double top.
Pump Square, which was the market place for the village, still exists today in name only. Almost all the old pubs and houses were demolished long ago, although there are some exceptions, and the lower part of the village still has an 'old' feel to it.
Pill has been immortalised in the song by Adge Cutler and the Worzels:
Pill, Pill I love thee still
Even though I'm leaving
Pill, Pill I love thee still
And the ferry boat starts heaving
When the rain down pours
And the thunder roars
And the lightning flashes bright
I'd be better by far
In the Duke or the Star
Than on the old Pill ferry tonight
Click here to listen to the song (MP3)
View of Pill from the 'other side' of the Avon"
