Description

Pillowell sits on the south-eastern edge of the Forest of Dean

Forest of Dean

The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...

. Its coordinates are 51.75° N 02.55° W. It is located 0.6 miles to the east of Whitecroft

Whitecroft

Whitecroft is a village in the Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire, England.It is located in-between Bream and Yorkley.- External links :*...

 and 0.6 miles to west of Yorkley, and was established as a mining village.

Its current population stands at about 250, with a housing stock of 101. There is a late 19th-century Methodist

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

 chapel. Much of the village lies within a conservation area.

The village school is called Pillowell Community Primary School. Founded in the 19th century, it briefly became nationally known in 1973, when the children, under their music teacher Mrs Davies, sang "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" as the signature tune for the Forest of Dean chronicler Winifred Foley

Winifred Foley

Winifred Mary Foley was an English writer.-Forest life:...

's A Child of the Forest, when it was serialized on BBC Woman's Hour. The poet F. W. Harvey (1888-1957) spent the last part of his life in the village.

History

According to the conservation area documentation, the earliest inhabitants may have been squatters on the edge of the royal Forest of Dean. In 1787, when the area still belonged to Newland

Newland

-Places:Australia* Electoral district of Newland, a state electoral district in South Australia* Lake Newland Conservation Park, South AustraliaFinland* Uusimaa, a region in Finland, literally meaning "Newland"United Kingdom...

parish, there were ten dwellings on Crown land, near the well that gave the settlement its name. Major growth came in mid-century with the development of deep mining.

A Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1835, when there were around 30 cottages. The building is now in residential use. A larger chapel opened on a new site in 1885. A large school for the area opened in 1877, with places for 400 children. Average attendance in 281 in 1889 and 501 in 1901. The roll in 1992 was down to 61. The Swan opened as a beer house in the Bream Road before 1891. A Co-operative store had opened by the early 20th century.

Coal mining throughout the Forest of Dean began to decline in the 1930s. The Princess Royal colliery finally closed in 1962. A spiral brick chute and parts of a mineral railway bridge remain.

Pillowell Silver Band

The Pillowell Silver Band are a 3rd Section nationally contesting band which performs at various fetes, concerts and contests throughout the year. They are conducted by Steve Ruck. In 2004 the band were runners-up in the National 4th Section Championships of Great Britain, narrowly beaten by a 1 point margin for the title.

External links

• Pillowell Silver Band site Retrieved 19 October 2010.
• The Villages - Pillowell