Pillaton's History

On this page you can find out more about the history of the village of Pillaton and local area. If you are looking for something in particular, you might find a link to a related section in the list below, otherwise just scroll down the page and see what is there.

Note: For items relating to the past ten years or so, see links in the News Archives and the Village News pages.

Introduction

Pillaton's origins date back prior to the Domesday Survey of 1086 where it is recorded as the manor of Piletone or Pilatona. The church of St Odulphus was dedicated in 1259 and the Weary Friar hotel is said to date from around that time with the suggestion that it was used by the monks building the church.

For many centuries, Pillaton remained a quiet rural village in a quiet rural parish with its roots in farming. It had become part of the Newton Ferrers estate by the time of the auction in 1924 and various farms, fields and village buildings, which had been rented up to then, became available for purchase. A map of the village at this time can be viewed on the Gallery pages.

The next significant change was brought about by the opening of the Tamar Bridge in 1961. This made access between the village and Plymouth much easier and resulted in the village virtually doubling in size to accommodate the demand by commuters.

Pillaton's Church

The church of St Odulphus was dedicated on 16th October 1259 and took its name from St. Odulph (Odulf) a monk and missionary from Oirschot, North Brabant (Netherlands).

The church was remodelled around the 14th and 15th centuries and the granite walls, piers, arcades and wagon vaults in the porch, north aisle and south transept are typical of that date. The south transept might have been built on the foundations of an earlier building - note the aumbry in the south wall of the transept.

View of Pillaton church in the snow

During the 19th century a restoration was carried out (at a cost of £800) when the whole of the main roof of the chancel and nave was replaced with a new roof of pitch pine. The medieval wagon roofs still remain in the north aisle, the south transept and the south porch. The unusually wide 'squint' connecting the south transept to the church is very interesting and the rood staircase opens off this squint.

The splendid granite tower (restored in 1900) has been divided in its height and the first storey forms a vestry with a ringing gallery over. Unfortunately, this tower and the church suffered considerable damage from a lightning bolt on the night of 21st January 2013. You can read more about that and follow up the subsequent repair process on the 2013 News page and in the two items below that appeared in the "Church Building & Heritage Review" in 2013 and 2014 and have been kindly provided for our archives by Jim Bennet.

St Odulph Lightning Strike Damage, 2013

St Odulph Lightning Strike Repair, 2014

The building is listed Grade 1 of architectural and historical interest.

Church Bells

In 1809, three bells cast by the Pennington family who lived in the Stoke Climsland and Lezant area, were hung in the tower. Tradition says that the treble and second bells were cast in Church Park field, part of the glebe land close to the church. These would have been supported by a wooden frame and were rung from the ground floor of the tower (now the vestry).

In 1909, Mears and Stainbank recast the number three bell (tenor) at their Whitechapel Foundry in London and augmented the ring to six with the addition of three larger bells. The old wooden frame was replaced at this point with a steel one. A new floor for the ringers was added above what is now the vestry. All this work was carried out for £400.

Pillaton Church bells lined up outside the Weary Friar prior to refitting

In 2009, to commemorate the centenary and bi-centenary of the above events, two new bells were cast at the Whitechapel Foundry (formerly Mears and Stainbank) and installed above the old treble. The older bells were refurbished and all eight bells then tuned as a ring in F#. The cost for this was a hundred times that of the 1909 work - a sign of continuous inflation over the century!

More photographs of the Bell Project.

As a result of this work, Pillaton now has one of the best rings in the area. You can hear what the new bells sound like by listening to this recording on YouTube made by Eric Bannister: Pillaton Church Bells Ringing Plain Bob Triples

Bell ringing practice is held on Tuesdays from 1930 to 2100. Visiting ringers are always welcome.

Whilst the ringers usually repair to the local hostelry for refreshment after practice, they certainly do not indulge to the extent that some of their predecessors seem to have! See The Merry Bell-Ringers.

Church and Churchyard Memorial Inscriptions

Pillaton Churchyard

A list of the memorial inscriptions in the church, old churchyard and new churchyard is available and can be accessed via the Memorials Introduction page.

Pillaton Rainfall Records

Rain on the window

Since the beginning of 2011, Brian Hutfield has been recording the rainfall in Pillaton and kindly provides us with an update each month. A table and graph of the readings can be found at Pillaton Rainfall Figures for 2011 . . ..

Post Office Directory Extracts

Useful sources of historic information about towns and villages are the various Post Office Directories - those published by Kelly are probably the most commonly encountered. These directories contain details of the social structure and give a brief outline of the history, geography and architecture of the place. This text is then followed with a list of inhabitant names and usually an indication of where they live. Links to extracts about Pillaton from some of these directories are given below:

More of these are available in larger libraries, eg. Plymouth and Truro, as well as online. The University of Leicester has copies for various counties including Cornwall at Special Collections Online.

Pillaton At War 1914-1918

"The Lost Men of Pillaton"

Pillaton War Memorial

A tribute from Don King to the seven men of Pillaton who were killed in action during World War 1. It was originally given at the WW1 commemorative service ("The Lamps Are Going Out in Pillaton") held in the church on 4th August 2014. Don has very kindly provided a slightly revised version of this for our website - see "The Lost Men of Pillaton".

"Pillaton At War 1914 - 1918"

Pillaton At War 1914 - 1918: A Tribute

Published in 2015 and expanding considerably from his tribute above, Don King has very kindly provided the digital version of his Memorial Booklet "Pillaton At War 1914 - 1918" as a downloadable PDF file. It gives much more detail on those from Pillaton who died in this war but also deals with some who survived. Background information is given on the various campaigns, battles, regiments, ships and aircraft, etc. that they were connected with. This is a fascinating and well written account that would certainly reward anyone prepared to download and read it.

Eustace Trehane Elliott: 1884-1917

Photo of Eustace Trehane Elliott

One of the seven men mentioned in the above tributes was Eustace Trehane Elliott. Images from a 1920s' roll of honour and of a memorial plaque and scroll can be seen in "Eustace Trehane Elliott, 1884-1917".

Pillaton At War 1939-1945

Pillaton War Memorial

In addition to the names on the War Memorial of those lost during WW1, there are a further two who are commemorated from WW2. The links below provide some background information on each of them:

Our thanks go to Don King for kindly providing the results of his research for use here.

19th Century Map and Boundary Change

Pillaton area as mapped in around 1868

This map of the village dates from about 1868. See the larger image that covers the parish and surroundings for more detail.

Before 1894 part of the current parish of Pillaton belonged to St. Stephens by Saltash. The boundary change page has more detail and a map showing the area affected.

Pillaton from Above

Pillaton from the air in 1972

An aerial photograph showing the village as it was in 1972. Pillaton from the Air, 1972.

Old School Photographs

Several old school photographs have been passed to us for inclusion on the website.

Pillaton Primary School Photograph, 1921

Pillaton Primary School, 1921 (Photo courtesy Dave Joslin)

Pupils of Pillaton Primary School lined up for a photograph on the road outside the church in 1921. See Pillaton School Photo, 1921.

St Mellion School Photographs (ca 1950)

St Mellion C P School ca 1948 (Photo courtesy Dave Joslin)

Four traditional school photographs of the pupils at St Mellion C. P. School, thought to be from between 1948 and 1953. See Four St Mellion School Photographs for images and many names.

St Mellion School Photograph (ca 1957)

St Mellion C P School ca 1957 (Photo courtesy Dave Joslin)

A traditional school photograph of the pupils at St Mellion C. P. School, thought to be from around 1957. St Mellion School Photo has some background and identifies most of those shown.

St Mellion School Photographs (1980s)

St Mellion C P School ca 1980 (Photo courtesy Maire & Richard Warwick)

Photograph of the Infants (KS1) class at St Mellion C. P. School in ca 1980. St Mellion School Photos from the 1980s shows this plus one of a school production from the mid 80s, both with the option to enlarge them.

Other Old Photographs

In addition to the sections following, there is a slowly expanding album of old local photographs that can be accessed through Days Gone By in the Gallery.

Also some images of the Weary Friar from ca 1955 can be seen (and purchased if desired) on the Francis Frith website.

Pillaton Coronation Cricket Match (1953)

The women of the village take on the men at cricket in 1953 (Photo Dave Joslin)

A photograph taken at the Coronation cricket match (1953) between the women and the men of the village. Has some background and names those shown.

Pillaton May Fair (1980)

Pillaton May Fair 1980 (Photo courtesy Maire & Richard Warwick)

A newspaper cutting reporting on the May Fair in 1980 kindly sent to us by Maire and Richard Warwick. There are many familiar names mentioned.

Pillaton WI (Women's Institute)

A Pillaton branch of the WI was in existence for many years, having started just after World War II, but was wound up in 2022. Reports on some of its activities over that period can be found below.

A special meeting was held on Saturday, 19th September 2015 as part of the WI's 100th Anniversary celebrations. A report and link to photographs of this can be found on WI 100th Anniversary Celebration.

Meeting Reports

Reports on the monthly meetings can be found using the links below. (NB. If not listed below, try the relevant Village News as more recent reports are often to be found there.)

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Links to some external sites that have information relating to Pillaton's past: