Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Bolstyrtone (sic) 1375 YDxvi,89

• Bolsterton(e) 1402 1474 Pat 1522 Testv 1548 YChant 1739 Hall

• Bolstirston 1419,1426 YDxii,114–15

• Bolsterton (sic) 1474 Pat

• Bolstarstone 1543 WillY

Etymology

Bolsterstone, Bolstyrtone (sic)1375 YD xvi, 89, Bolsterton (e )1402 ib xii, 113, 1474 Pat, 1522 Test v, 1548 YChantet passim to 1739 Hall, Bolstirston 1419, 1426 YD xii, 114–15, Bolsterton (sic)1474 Pat, Bolstarstone 1543 WillY. The first el. is OE  bolster 'bolster, pillow', and, from the description of the stone on the village green in Hlm 476, it would seem to refer to a 'stone bolster' on which the head of a felon was laid, at his beheading, for this stone rests upon another and has mortices cut in it to receive the wooden posts of a gibbet, v. stān . Hunter reports a similar stone in the churchyard at Haworth iii, 261infra .