Knutsford

This delightful old Cheshire town is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Cunetsford, the name possibly being derived from King Canute who according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle marched north with an army in 1017. He may have "forded" the River Lily or Birkin.

In 1292 William de Tabley was granted a charter to establish a market, annual fair and 38 burgage plots. These rights were later divided between him and Sir Richard Massey of Tatton, whose successors, the e.g.ertons, became Lords of the Manor.

Knutsford’s literary attraction and chief pride is the identification with Mrs Gaskell. One of her best known novels, "Cranford", was set in Knutsford, where she grew up. Many buildings familiar to her still remain today; "Heathwaite" in Gaskell Avenue is the home of her aunt, Mrs Lumb, who brought her up from infancy and the Unitarian Chapel on Adam’s Hill where she taught in the Sunday School and where she was buried.