Knutsford is one of Cheshire’s most charming towns with its picturesque black and white houses and nearby great country estates.
Knutsford was the ‘Cranford’ of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel but the town’s history goes back much further than the 19th century. Remains of early man dating back 8000 years have been found at nearby Tatton and it is said that the town’s name comes from the Danish King Canute and it appears in the 11th century Domesday Book.
Famous Residents
Elizabeth Gaskell, the author of many novels, is probably the town’s most famous one-time resident and now the street where she lived is called Gaskell Avenue. In 1907 a memorial to Elizabeth Gaskell was erected in King Street by Richard Harding Watt and its design is somewhat Italian in style.
Not all Knutsford’s townspeople were as respectable as Mrs. Gaskell. One of its infamous residents was Edward Higgins, a notorious highwayman who lived like a gentleman in the town until the law caught up with him and he left Knutsford quickly – legend has it that he used a tunnel under the town’s heath. Justice caught up with him eventually as he was hanged in Carmarthen in 1767.
Royal May Day
The town is also famous for its Royal May Day celebrations, said to be the most impressive in England. They began in 1864 but only acquired the ‘Royal’ name when Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) visited them in 1887. On May Day (1st May), the streets of Knutsford are strewn with coloured sands in which patterns are traced. Then there is a parade led by Jack-in-the-Green followed by the May Queen in a carriage. Children dance around a big maypole, a pagan fertility symbol, holding on to the coloured ribbons attached to it. The maypole itself is decorated with greenery and flowers.
Other Attractions
- Many visitors come to see Knutsford’s famous Cheshire, timber-framed, black and white houses.
- The town has a famous coaching inn on King Street once called The George and Dragon but was renamed The Royal George after Queen Victoria visited in 1832. This inn is mentioned in Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel ‘Cranford’ and in another of her novels ‘Wives and Daughters’.
- General Patton made a famous anti-communist speech in the Victorian Gothic Town Hall in Toft Road and so this featured in the movie ‘Patton’.
- The Heath was once common land and a racecourse. It is now a recreation area and is the venue for the main Royal May Day celebrations. Elizabeth Gaskell would have been able to look out on the Heath from her home.
- In Macclesfield Street, the graveyard of the Unitarian Chapel is where Mrs. Gaskell is buried.
Tatton Park
This country estate, set in 1000 acres of parklands, was owned by the Egerton family for 400 years until the National Trust took it over in 1958.
The present-day mansion was designed by Samuel Wyatt in the late 18th century. The first stage was completed and the death of Wyatt, the plans were scaled down and the house was completed in the early 19th century.
It has lavish staterooms with amazing collections of antique furniture, silver, pictures, and glass amongst much else.
Visitors can also visit the Tudor Old Hall, completed in 1520 where they can step back in time and see what life was like in the 16th century.
Tatton Park is also justly famous for its gardens. Landscaped by Humphrey Repton, the gardens are superb incorporating Tatton and Melchett meres and include the spectacular Japanese Garden, the terraced Italian Garden, and the Fernery, designed by Jospeh Paxton, once head gardener at Chatsworth and also responsible for solving the design problems of Crystal Palace, the home of the Great Exhibition in London.
Tabley House
This is another of the great houses close to Knutsford. Tabley House, designed by John Carr of York for Sir Peter Byrne Leicester. It was finished in 1767 and is the only 18th-century Palladian country house in Cheshire. It has outstanding collections of antique furniture and pictures including a work by J.M.W. Turner.
