Possibly a corruption of potter hills, referring to the clay pits which are now the ponds in the wood opposite and the associated brick works which closed in the late 18th or early 19th century.
This is how it looked immediately before it was 'improved' in the 1970s.
Date
1871
1957/8 voters register
North
George & Mary Collingwood and 5 children
John and Annie Birkett
South
Edward & Mary Smith and 2 children
Rebecca and Walter H Padley