The name "Pill" comes from the
Welsh word
Pîl which denotes a tidal inlet or harbour. The later name Crockerne Pill (literally 'pottery wharf') arose from the fact that an industrial-scale pottery thrived nearby. The
Ham Green Pottery kiln was excavated in 1959 and is located in the fields above Chapel Pill. The pottery was made in the period from 1100 AD to 1250 AD and was exported from Pill by boat. The so-called 'Ham Green' pottery has been found and identified in archaeological digs from the
Algarve in Portugal to
Iceland. It is an important archaeological 'dating tool' because the period of manufacture is so precise.
Bristol City Museum has a good selection of pottery artefacts from the site and other locations showing the unique decoration and form of Ham Green pottery but the only item on display is a large jug at the
M Shed. The town was traditionally the residence of
pilots, who would guide boats up the
Avon Gorge, between the
Bristol Channel and the
Port of Bristol. The port moved in the 20th century to
Avonmouth and the
Royal Portbury Dock. Pill was once home to 21
public houses and was known as being a rough place, to the extent that the founder of the
Methodist Church,
John Wesley, says in an entry in his journals for 3 October 1755: viaduct in Pill. The 1860s saw the building of the
Portishead Railway line between
Bristol Temple Meads and
Portishead. The line, which was opened to passengers in 1863, passed right through the village of Pill, with the result that a large number of buildings had to be demolished to allow its necessary straight and level passage. The railway also consumed many acres of farm land during its construction. However, it brought new life to the area, not to mention new blood as many of the navvies working the line met and married local girls and stayed on to raise their families after the line was completed. They brought new names, some of which are still with us today, over 100 years on. The small ferry from Pill to
Shirehampton closed because of loss of trade once the opening of the
Avonmouth Bridge in 1974 enabled pedestrians to walk over the
Avon. So a transport link to and from the parish of
Easton-in-Gordano, one that had survived since
Medieval times, was closed and the river mud has swallowed up most of the now unattended slipways. The village and its vanished ferry are commemorated in the
Adge Cutler and The Wurzels song "Pill Pill". In 1971 the
Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed an inshore
lifeboat at Pill. It was withdrawn in 1974. ==Amenities==