Pil (placename)

Pîl is a Welsh placename element. The name is defined as the tidal reach of a waterway, suitable as a harbour, but is only common along the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary. The highly localised distribution suggests it may have only been applicable to waterways within the tidal reach of the Severn sea.[1]

Artist's reconstruction of Medieval Newport, showing Arthur's Pîl (or Town Pîl) just south of Newport Castle.

The name is today most commonly associated with the village of Pyle in Glamorgan, and the small village of Pill in Somerset.

Usage

In toponymy and hydronymy the word is often mistaken for another Welsh word "Pŵll" ("Pool"), however there is no proven link between the words and the both forms are often found within the same localities (for example, medieval Caerleon had a Pwll Mawr and a Pîl Mawr either side of the Roman port). Pîl may have developed a secondary meaning of 'refuge', as the name appears in some inland areas (such as Pilleth in Powys).

Although the name is associated with the coastline of Glamorgan and Gwent, it is found on both sides of the Severn, from Pembrokeshire in the west to Somerset and Gloucestershire in the East. In South West England, the word is rendered as Pill, and is interpreted by Robert Macfarlane as denoting "a tidal creek or stream...capable of holding small barges". Rick Turner noted the word as part of a common lexicon, shared across the Gwent, Somerset and Gloucestershire Levels.[2][3]

History
Newport in Monmouthshire (1813) by Edward Pugh, showing the castle, bridge and ships docked at Arthur's Pîl (or Town Pîl)

The predominance of "Pîl" in the area is an indication of their importance to the local maritime culture, especially along the river Usk where Pîls are found at the old Roman port in Caerleon and the later city of Newport. Newport developed around a number of Pîls, such as those at Pillgwenlly, said to have been the base of piracy by Gwynllyw (the future patron saint of Newport, it's Cathedral and pirates) and Arthur's Pîl (or Town Pîl), the site of the 2002 archaeological discovery of the Newport ship (now the Riverfront Arts Centre).[4][5][6]

Place names with the element

Bristol
  • Stup Pill Rhine

Camarthenshire
  • Pil Dafen, a tidal stream in the National Wetlands Centre at Llanelli

Glamorgan
  • Blackpill, Swansea
  • Burry Pill
  • Great Pill
  • Pil-du-Reen, a waterway in Trowbridge, Cardiff
  • Pen y Pil, a school and area above the Pil-du-Reen
  • Pennard Pill
  • Pyle

Devon

Gloucestershire

Gwent

Monmouthshire
  • Chapel Pill
  • Collister Pill Reen
  • Mathern Pill
  • Mireland Pill Reen
  • St. Pierre Pill
  • Towyn Pill Reen
  • West Pill Reen

Pembrokshire

Somerset
gollark: Infinis'? That was a saltkin™?
gollark: *hopefully*
gollark: Well, you must've hunted stuff to trade for them...
gollark: I was ↑ing ezio.
gollark: ↑

See also

References
  1. Owen, William (1803). A Dictionary of the Welsh Language (Vol II ed.). London.
  2. Macfarlane, Robert (5 March 2015). Landmarks. London: Penguin, UK. ISBN 0241967864.
  3. Turner, Rick. "Unique Levels Lingo". Living Levels.
  4. Jones,Stone, Evan T, Richard, ed. (2018). The World of the Newport Medieval Ship: Trade, Politics and Shipping in the mid-fifteenth century. University of Wales Press. ISBN 1786831457.
  5. Robin Gwyndaf, Welsh Folk Tales (National Museum of Wales, 1989), p. 96
  6. Trett, Bob. "The Street and Road Pattern". Newport Past.
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