Spelling is so variable and I would love to believe that here was a stone there once. (I grew up very nearby)

The forms for Hoxton are Hochestone (DB in 1086), Hocston in 1221, Hoxtone in 1254. However, just down the road we have Haggerston. In the Domesday Book we see Hergotestane. It is Heregodeston in 1221 and Haregodeston in 1242. Here it does mean Heregod's stone and as there is no local stone here at all - it must have referred to a special stone - an erratic or even a standing stone probaby used for religious purposes and as meeting place or moot.

One of the fascinating things about place names is that you can often discover the personal name of early Saxon settlers or family groups and I love to do that with the lost villagesof london - particularly in the east.