[4] It has been suggested that Abersili would be a more appropriate Welsh name, and an unofficial referendum has shown significant support for that view amongst residents.

[7] The village could be named as an abbreviation of "south lea" meaning "southern pasture" but it is more commonly understood to be named after the noble Norman family of Baron Reginald de Sully, one of the 'Twelve Knights of Glamorgan' who was awarded the Manor around 1093 by the conqueror of Glamorgan Sir Robert Fitzhamon, probably under charter by William II of England.

In 1591 Sir Edward Mansel of Margam wrote his historical document recording 'The winning of Glamorgan' and recorded: "To Sir Reginald de Sully he (Fitz Haymon) gave the castle and town to be called Sully with the Manor of it, and the Manors of St Andrews and Dinas Powys for his Granary and provisions.

Occupation of the castle lasted less than three hundred years till around the mid 14th century, probably as a result of the extinction of the de Sully family line.

The resident Sully clergyman has always been referred to as the Rector which indicates the tithes that produced his annual income were never appropriated by a monastery and he was therefore probably supported by the Lord of the Manor directly, although appointed by the Bishop.

There was a six-year gap while ownership was disputed until in 1838 the estate was finally taken by Sir Josiah John Guest of Dowlais and Merthyr Tydfil, whose eldest son would later become the first Lord Wimborne of Ashby.

By the early 20th century Lord Wimborne's estate began to sell off various lands within the parish, and during 1914 the last of the Sully estate interests were sold at public auction to a number of individual private landowners, the main purchaser being Lieutenant-Commander Charles E. Evans, RNVR, who in 1917 split his overall Sully holding into a number of rented properties.

However, in just the past forty years Sully has grown steadily along the various commercial plastics factory developments and with the wider spread of private car ownership.

From 1890 until the end of the 1960s Sully was connected eastwards to Penarth and Cardiff and westwards to Barry and the South Wales Valleys by an extension of the Taff Vale Railway line.

The redundant rail track bed and station buildings have mostly been sold into private ownership and built on, with any unsold stretches being overgrown and impassable as far as the Fort Road bridge at Lavernock.

In the 1960s the local plastics factory and principal employers in the immediate area, a subsidiary of Distillers Company, built a new sports and social club at the east end of the village, opposite Swanbridge Halt railway station.

Touring venues have included Holland, Spain, Germany and Belgium, as well as many within the U.K. SS Pilton was a ship that ran aground on Sully Beach in 1924.

She was aground for three months, and provided a steady source of income for Sully caterers from the large number visitors arriving by train to view the spectacle.

The hamlet of Swanbridge includes a caravan park and holiday camp and The Captain's Wife public house, which opened in 1977 after a conversion of several quayside cottages.

The Atlantic Trading Estate is between Sully and Barry, and The Bendricks is a major site of interest for paleontologists due to its extensive fossils.

However, rail services from Penarth ceased to operate in 1968 as a result of the Beeching Axe, which affected many branch lines all over the country.

At present, the nearest station is Cadoxton, on the Barry branch of the Vale of Glamorgan Line operated by Transport for Wales, approximately 2.1 miles away, roughly about a forty-minute walk.

Sully is featured in the third series of the BBC One/BBC Three hit sitcom Gavin & Stacey, when the character of Ness, played by Ruth Jones, moves into a caravan in the village with fiancé Dave Coaches.