Places   (Help with places, streets and buildings in Wigan.)

Ariel..I hope you are suitably proud that your ancester was one of the first inhabitants of our village....Do you still have any connections with Stubshaw Cross by any chance? Heyes has always been a local name .....
Mills states that Shaw is an old english local slang name fo scaega which was a nordic name for a copse or a run of thickets significantly placed around a field to enclose animals ...this ties in perfectly with my findings of why Launder chose the two stubshaws to gift to the poor of ashton as a place where they could collectively keep their sheep and cattle in a safe place in 1630.
My book will show the lead up to that event and indeed the aftermath....And as you say, He had to put the cross where it is as a signpost because if he hadn`t have done noone would have known that the field existed.....If you can look at an old english dictionary you will find that a `cruciate` is described as `a cross shaped signpost` and is a much more common sight as people realise....If you interested in helping me with my book you would be most welcome....