Ellyll Hills ~ Ancient Sacred Mounds of Grimsby
Ellyll is believed to be the collective name for three mounds of antiquity in Grimsby.
We’re trying to put together as much information on them as possible - if you can help then . . . Lincolnshire needs you !
There is much to unravel here and I suspect over time the picture may become a little clearer.
We are much indebted to Monumental Antiquities of Great Grimsby (MAGG) but it has to be said that information, especially corroborative, is thin on the ground to say the least, if you find some of it confusing rest assured - you’re not on your own !
The suggestion is that these hills were much smaller in nature than the others in Grimsby, covering total area of about 3 acres and for and that their location was in what was at the time marsh land, inhabitants were said to be the ‘lowest order of people’.
Because of this their use was unlikely to have been defensive or trade based.
MAAG states with some certainty that the name derives from El Hill or Hell Hill and that there were druidic mystical connotations to its name. Based on three ancient British daemons and that those inhabitants bore some superstitious or religious beliefs therein.
The Seven Hills of Grimsby
MAAG also suggests three other names for the hills, Hell, Rye and Thorn.
The original purpose was probably for ease of dwelling in the boggy marshes and also some minor defensive benefits.
It is also suggested they were situated in a ‘deep morass’ and inhabited by those ‘addicted to heavy drinking’ - not unlike parts of modern Grimsby then 
Being only some 800 by 600 feet in size and of low height they clearly are not to be considered of the same importance as some of the other hills in Grimsby and they must have contained quite secular little communities relatively cut off from other areas.
Here is my first initial stab at a rough location for the three hills which make up Ellyll. Hill A possibly being in the central green area, perhaps in the triangular area bordered by Chelmsford Svenue and Kingston Ave. I’ve done this purely from maps and not written information.
The Possible Location
We’d be very happy to learn more about this area so if you can add anything at all please do leave a comment
Many thanks
Rod
Please see also the related articles on
Toote Hill ~ Holm Hill ~ Abbey Hill ~ Cun Hu ~ Sand Hill ~ Ellyll ~ Spittal ~ Chapel Hill ~ Mill Hill
Amiguru said,
December 19, 2009 @ 5:33 pm
Rod,
An opinion:
1. The inhabitants of these isles in the pre Roman Conquest era are loosly referred to as Britons or Celts. The language they spoke in what is now England, (then part of Brython,) was Insular Celtic, probably of the Brythonic branch which includes Welsh.
2. I am Welsh by birth and have some familiarity with the language. My first glance at the word Ellyll indicated that it could be of that language. Admittedly, I didn’t know the word but on looking it up it translates as - demon, fiend, elf, goblin.
I rest my case that this is Demon Hill or I’ll eat my leek
Hwyl,
le
N
Rod said,
December 19, 2009 @ 5:56 pm
Neville,
the demon aspect ties in exactly with what I’ve been looking at
Best
Rod
Rod said,
December 20, 2009 @ 8:28 am
Some nice folklore and mythology references here.
The name does derive from elves and goblins.
There is also an ancient belief that they could also be the souls of departed druids forced to wander the earth as they were too good to be sent to hell and not good enough for heaven.
Also a nice Welsh poetic quote which ties in perfectly with Neville’s stated Wales connection.
A great point from Steve is a theory to a connection with Ely Road
Rod said,
December 20, 2009 @ 7:10 pm
Updated with maps and possible location
Rod said,
December 21, 2009 @ 2:43 pm
In the 16th century records state that corn was being grown at a place called Hell Hill
Rod said,
December 29, 2009 @ 12:43 pm
Hill A - Ellyll
Plotting using different maps seems once again to show the first map on this page to be pretty accurate.
The location for the Ellyll hill marked A has landed in the same spot I found before. Nice confirmation for a second time using different maps but also some nice geographic ‘evidence’ as well - take a look at this map
From an 1824 Map
Checking my coordinates on this map I saw that hill A, according to my calculations that is, falls on the circular feature marked on the map (just below the E of Blow Wells)
We already know from written information that this area was very wet and marshy so it ties in perfectly
The grid reference is approx 257 - 087 for Hill A
All opinions welcomed
Amiguru said,
December 29, 2009 @ 3:27 pm
Rod,
Re-reading this article rang a bell from my youth!
Many years ago I familiarised myself with ancient alphabets such as Ogham, Heiroglyphs, Runes, Phonecian, Aramaic, Greek, Cyrillic and so on as well as the numerals of Augrim. I haven’t had need of most of them very often but yet again they come into play
Your reference: MAAG also suggests three other names for the hills, Hell, Rye and Thorn. is the bit that made the brain say ‘hang on a bit’……
‘We’ label the hills a,b and c. In the Runic alphabet there are three letters:
hægl, rad þorn which are pronounced something like Hail, Raed & Thorn
Is this another BINGO! event?
N
le
Rod said,
December 29, 2009 @ 4:47 pm
Neville,
that’s seriously interesting - could it be I wonder ? It’s a beautiful theory !
Any names they have will be based on a reason, one thing I’ve found is that generic names don’t seem to apply when going back in time - there always seems to be a reason why something is named thus.
Off to have another look at MAAG
Cheers
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 3, 2010 @ 4:29 pm
Rod,
Fanfare……… Extracted from a 17thC. survey of Grimsby: ‘…..by then corn was being grown in the Fresh Ings, the Salt Ings, Hell Hill, Penny Platts, the Seven Acres and the Four Acres, all of which lay between the original open fields and the commons.’ - by E.E. Gillett
Hellishly yours,
le
N
Rod said,
January 3, 2010 @ 6:07 pm
Neville,
nice find indeed. I wonder if that hill outlasted the other two ?
What do you think to the possible location I touted for Hill A ?
Best
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 4, 2010 @ 7:06 pm
Rod,
Yes I agree that it has potential; I would, however, reserve judgement until I am able to do some properly scaled cartographical comparisons. This is not in order to knock or disprove your theory; rather to reinforce it hopefully. Just good scientific practice.
As I’m sure you know, the first difficulty is the fact that Oliver’s map is not scaled but if two points are identifyable with any certainty then triangulation comes into play once the scale is adjusted to a modernish map.
I shall tackle this problem in the near future and produce overlays which should resolve it with some degree of certainty.
Regards,
le
N
Rod said,
January 4, 2010 @ 7:18 pm
Neville,
that’s great, really appreciated. I’m not looking for confirmation just another, hopefully better, opinion
Best
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 5, 2010 @ 8:17 pm
Hi Rod,
Its tally-ho amigo!
I’ve just spent about an hour going through a suitcase of old maps rooting out any that might possibly be of use in our quests and guess what……I’ve found a 1960’s street map of Grimsby, 6ins. to the mile, with all sorts of manuscripted notes on it which I made over several decades. Crucially, there are some that I had totally forgotten about having done. Way back when I must have puzzled over the very issues which we are now trying to resolve!
I can see the compass marks at intersections and foci so I must have done a fairly good job of it.
I shall do a seperate set of triangulations in the near future but for the time being here are the spots marked on the map:
Toote Hill…Lat. Hill 53° 33′ 38″N Long. 0° 07′ 06″W Just west of the end of Peterhouse Rd.
Cun Hu Hill…Lat. 53° 33′ 27″N Long. 0° 07′ 30″W On the golf course, in line with Cambridge Rd.
I shall now work on the others and let you have them later this evening. Just can’t describe the excitement and exhileration over the potential developments we can make if these are confirmed.
Tremblingly yours, (hope nobody misconstrues that!)
le
N
Amiguru said,
January 5, 2010 @ 9:09 pm
Here we go again Rod,
Ellyll Hill A…..Lat. 53° 33′ 33″N Long. 0° 06′ 23″W On the allotments!
Ellyll Hill B…..Lat. 53° 33′ 25″N Long. 0° 06′ 40″W Under the row of houses facing Cambridge Rd.
Ellyll Hill C….Lat. 53° 33′ 20″N Long. 0° 06′ 49″W In the curved access road facing Carnforth Crescent.
That will do for post 2
le
N
Amiguru said,
January 5, 2010 @ 9:59 pm
Rod,
Post three.
Sand Hill….Lat. 53° 33′ 27″N Long. 0° 05′ 46″W On the football ground just south of the path.
I have a series of other points running in a large arc which I have labelled S, T, U, V, W. I suspect these are the Block Hills but I need to check the positions and orientation of the arc so they may have to wait until tomorrow. I think the above gives you enough food for thought for one day
Your rough stab on the GoogleEarth pic is not far out of agreement with my calc for Ellyll A, just the opposite side of Chelmsford Ave. and the hill on the 1824 map fits pretty well too.
By George Sir! I think we’re cracking it between us.
As an aside, there are a whole series of asterisks marked prominently all over the map. I puzzled for a little while as to what unknown features they indicated; then I spotted a key to them with grid references…..they are the addresses of thirteen of my girlfriends of that era! Oh, the vanity
N
le
P.S. sorry about all the emoticons…..
Rod said,
January 6, 2010 @ 8:53 am
Neville,
that’s really good, now, short reply I’m going straight to the maps etc to look them all up this minute.
I’m pleased you remembered about the girlfriends I could have spent hours touring the spots looking for objects of antiquity
Fantastic this
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 6, 2010 @ 9:04 am
Rod,
Brief reply: Well, my then teenage girlfriends will now be objects of antiquity, like me, in their 60’s!
N
le