In the Domesday Book, Hill is recorded as Hilla, then later between the years of 1250 to 1455 is referred to frequently as Hulla. It was not until after 1773 until it was more commonly known as Hill.
Census data dating back to 1831 shows that the principal industry in Hill has been agriculture, accounting for approximately 75 percent of the workforce in 1831. One product still currently farmed in Hill is rapeseed which is commonly grown for the oil-rich seeds used in the production of vegetable oil. The continuing existence of four working farms in Hill today indicates that agriculture is still of importance to the local economy. Historically the second largest category of employment has been as labourers this proportion however decreased throughout the end of the twentieth century to make way for an increase in professional employment. The employment in agriculture historically was male-dominated, census data from 1881 indicates that 80 percent of the employed women in Hill were employed in domestic service. According to the 2011 Census the largest proportions of employment in Hill was in the areas of manufacturing, education and retail.
Population history
The total number of households in Hill today is similar to the number of households in Hill in 1901. The 1901 census showed there being a total of 40 households, whereas the 2011 census showed there to be a total of 42 households, the majority of which were made up of two adults with one or two children.
The Manor of Hill
The Manor of Hill, known as Hill Court, was included in a grant of the Barony of Berkeley, bestowed upon Robert Fitzharding by Henry II of England after his ascension to the throne in 1154. The manor was transferred down successive generations of the Berkeley family until it came into the possession of Robert Poyntz of nearby Iron Acton in 1418. The Poyntz family gave up the Manor at the beginning of the 17th century, Richard Fust subsequently assuming the lordship in 1609. Built in 1863, the present Hill Court, home of the Jenner-Fust family, replaced an earlier building.
The Catgrove Murder
On 18 January 1816, a group of sixteen poachers were encountered by a party of gamekeepers belonging to Colonel Berkeley and Lord Ducie at Catgrove, a wooded area in the parish of Hill. Some of the poachers were in possession of firearms, which led to an assistant gamekeeper named William Ingram, a member of Colonel Berkeley's contingent, to be shot dead. The poachers, all of whom had blackened faces, fled the scene. Most, but not all, were subsequently apprehended and taken into custody. In total 11 men stood trial, all of whom were found guilty, leading to two of the guilty party being executed the following day and the remaining convicts faced transportation to Australia.
Geography
According to the Ordnance Survey of 1880, the total area of the civil parish of Hill was 2270.7 acres, this included 217.95 acres of foreshore of the tidal River Severn. The boundary of the parish being the centre of the river’s channel at low tide. Over 1500 acres of Hill are meadow and pasture lands, approximately 210 acres of arable land and 130 acres of woodland. Ordnance Survey maps show Hill to have four small areas of woodland, in order of descending size these areas are; Catgrove, Fishpond Wood, Church-hill Wood and Ash Grove. Along with these Woodland areas, Ordnance Survey maps also show a number of small streams running through the centre and towards to the west of the Parish. The British History Online’s website contains an extract from A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis, which described Hill’s geography as:
