 The settlement is adjacent to the A41 road north of Whitchurch, and an earlier line of the main road passes through it.The unusual place-name has been supposed to be a back-formation from that of the historic "Bell on the Hill" inn, but the inn name may in fact have been suggested by the earlier forms "Belle Hill", recorded in 1610, and "Bellow Hill", noted 1675, possibly an Old English name from "belg" and "hläw" ("rounded hill").The "Bell" was built in 1677 by a London grocer, Edmund Nevitt.