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

MarieM,
What a good question to ask. I lived in Poolstock until I was 18, but I never gave a thought as to its name. 'Pool' is a fairly common name for some kind of watercourse, and apparently 'Stoc' is an old English term for a field used for summer grazing. Given that the River Douglas ran through the area, and that we have the modern street names of Fourteen Meadows Road, & Swan Meadow Road, it could be reasonable to say that 'Poolstock' means the fields that were used to graze sheep or cattle by the River Douglas.