Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Belle Hill c.1610 Sheaf1

• Belley, Grenley or Bellyhill 1671 Sheaf348

• Bellowhill 1675 1690 ib

• The Signe of the Bel, The Bell Inn 1675 ib

• The Bell 1831 Bry

• The Bell, The Ball 1838 TA

Etymology

Bellow Hill, Bellow Hill Fm (118–525443), Bell O' Th' Hill (109–523454).These names are confused. The material is Belle Hill c.1610 Sheaf1, 2, p. 361, Belley , Grenley or Bellyhill 1671 Sheaf3 48 (9795), Bellowhill 1675 ib 29 (6353), 1690 ib 5 (883), The Signe of the Bel , The Bell Inn 1675 ib, The Bell 1831 Bry, The Bell , The Ball 1838TA (cf. Bell Field , Ball Field ), Bell o ' th ' Hill 1842 OS. It is supposed by local historians (Sheaf, loc. cit.) that the p.n. Bellow Hill is a back-forma- tion from the name of the inn 'The Bell ' on the Hill . It appears as likely that the inn-name was suggested by the hill-name, which could be derived from belg 'a rounded hill' (Belly -), and belle 'a bell', which was itself used figuratively in hill-names. Bellow probably contains belle and hlāw or hōh . Bell o' th' Hill might have been the site of le Castelward infra , and a motte-and-bailey mound may lie behind the names.