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Shouler
Family History The Village Of Pill; The
Home Of Bristol Channel Pilots The name of Pill is derived from the Westcountry word ‘Pill’ meaning a tidal creek or pool in a creek. The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) says of Pill: "PILL ST. GEORGE, a hamlet and chapelry in the parish of Easton-in-Gordano, hundred of Portbury, county Somerset, 5 miles N.W. of Bristol. It is situated on the river Avon, and is the pilot station for the port of Bristol. The modern village is built at a short distance from the Roman station Ad Sabrinam, on the Via Julia, or Fosse Way, which passes through the chapelry. There are places of worship for Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans." The Bristol Channel
is a dangerous place for shipping, there are extreme tidal ranges, strong
currents along with shifting sand-banks and Pill was traditionally the residence
of the Bristol Channel pilots who would guide ships up the Bristol Channel
and Avon Gorge, into the Port of Bristol. The port moved in the twentieth
century to Avonmouth and the Royal Portbury Dock, this lead to the decline of
Pill as a centre of Pilotage. Notice
the difference in the photographs below, the one showing Pill Harbour in 1919
shows several Pilot Cutters moored in the creek, but by the 1930’s they
have all gone, a way of life had come to an end. Pill was once home to
some 21 public houses, it was known as a rough place, to the extent that the
founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley, was loathe to set foot in
it. In 1830 there are 13
Taverns/Public Houses recorded in Pigot’s Directory (see below). The 1860's saw the
building of the railway line between Bristol (Temple Meads) and Portishead,
which passed right through the village of Pill - a number of properties
having to be demolished to allow for its passage. The railway opened to passengers in 1863
and brought new life to the area, many of the navvies hat worked on the line
met and married local girls and stayed on after the line was complete to
raise their families. The map of Pill
in 1900 below, clearly shows the railway line cutting through the
village. Pill Station opened on the 18th April 1867
and closed on the 7th September 1964, it was one of the major crossing points
for trains using the line. The goods yard at the Portishead end of the
station was opened on the 7th March 1912 and closed on the 10th June 1963. The ferry from Pill
to Lamplighters & Shirehampton, probably running since medieval times,
was discontinued in 1973. The
photograph below, of the ferry slipways, was taken in 1958. It is reported anecdotally that during the slave trade, Negroes were held in a cave in the river bank (to the right of the picture of 1919), my great grandmother had seen iron rings in the walls to which the slave’s chains were secured. The cave has long since been sealed up. The Pilotage service was in the control of a number of Pill families, who were much interrelated, they held an effective monopoly and the service passed from father to son. In those days pilotage was based on the principle that the first cutter to hail a ship in the approaches got the pilotage job, hence the need for a fast boat. My great grandfather used to sail into the Western Approaches, often going as far as the Fastnet Light or into the Irish Sea in search of ships. He would then board the ship and pilot her into Avonmouth or Bristol Docks as required and the mate of the cutter would bring her back either to Pill Creek, or more often, to wait off Portishead, where my great grandfather would rejoin her. The pilots used to own their own cutters, my great grandfathers was built in Fowey in Cornwall at a cost of £400, the money to pay for her - £400 in gold sovereigns, was carried in a small oak box to Fowey. Some historic views of Pill and surrounding area - click on images
to enlarge. |
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Pill extracts from
Pigot’s 1830 Directory of Bristol, Gloucestershire: Name
Title / Occupation Address Adams Thomas
Shopkeeper / Dealer
Pill, Bristol Allen George
Surgeon
Pill, Bristol Blinman James
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Brown John
Pilot Pill, Bristol Calloway Edward
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Calloway John
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Carey John
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Case Thomas
Warner Pilot
Pill, Bristol Chatley John
Tavern / Public House
Swan, Pill, Bristol Coleman John
Shopkeeper / Dealer
Pill, Bristol Comer Benjamin St
George's Pill, Bristol Davies William
Butcher
Pill, Bristol Deacon John
Tavern / Public House
New Inn, Pill, Bristol Derrick George
Tavern / Public House
Kings Arms, Pill, Bristol Dickens William
Pilot Pill, Bristol Drew James
Esq. St
George's Pill, Bristol Evans David
Revd.
Pill, Bristol Gerrish William
Warner Pilot
Pill, Bristol Gilmore John
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Goode Thomas
Tavern / Public House
Rodney, Pill, Bristol Goodland William
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Gordan Jas A.
Esq. Nash
House, Near Pill, Bristol Hanmore Samuel
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Harris Alexander
Post Master
Pill, Bristol Harris Clement
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Hazell Richard
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Holder William
Tavern / Public House
Duke Of Wellington, Pill, Bristol Jones George
Tavern / Public House
Waterloo House, Pill, Bristol Kington William
Pilot Pill, Bristol Lovell Nicholas
Surgeon
Pill, Bristol Marshall Susannah
Tavern / Public House
Royal George, Pill, Bristol Morgan William
Ship & Boat Builder
Pill, Bristol Pains John Pilot Pill, Bristol Parfitt James
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Perrington Robert
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Phillips James
Tavern / Public House
Crown & Cushion, Pill, Bristol Prosser George
Blacksmith
Pill, Bristol Prosser George
Tavern / Public House
New Inn, Pill, Bristol Ray Thomas
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Ray William
Pilot Pill, Bristol Reed John
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Reed William
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Robe Edward
Master Pilot
Pill, Bristol Rowles Thomas
Tavern / Public House
Star, Pill, Bristol Rowles William
Tavern / Public House
Rose & Crown, Pill, Bristol Rumney William
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Rumney William Jun.
Pilot Pill,
Bristol Scarretts James
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Sheppard Thomas
Pilot
Pill, Bristol Stacey Joseph
Maltster
Pill, Bristol Thomas Arthur
Pilot Pill, Bristol Tilley John
Tavern / Public House
Red Lion, Pill, Bristol Warne William
Tavern / Public House
Duke Of Cumberland, Pill, Bristol Wilde James
Soap & Candle Maker
Pill, Bristol Windham George
Baker
Pill, Bristol Young John B.
Butcher
Pill, Bristol |
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