Whitstones
Early-attested site in the Parish of North Claines
Historical Forms
- Witstan, Wytstan c.1160 WoC c.1240 RBB 1182 18th
- Wystan 1255 Ass 1299 RBB 18th
- Wyston 1286 Wigorn
- Wyston in Northwick 1321,1392 Pat
- Wytston 1295 Wigorn
- Whitston 1300 Pat
- Whiston 1330,1393,1406 Pat 1535 VE 1549 Pat
Etymology
'White stone,' v. hwit , stan . There is no likelihood of any prominent natural stone or rock here and the reference must be to some lost artificial monument, a boundary stone or the like.Nash (i. 209) says that it was so called from a white stone or cross erected here. In William the Conqueror's time this stone was pulled down and used to build a lavatory for the monks of St Mary, and he quotes Heming as his authority, though there does not seem to be any confirmatory evidence in Heming so far as can be discovered. For the name we may compare Whiston (La, Y), Whitestone (D), Whitstone Hundred (Gl) and Whitestone Hundred (So) and huitan stan in Aston Fields (BCS 203).