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Knutsford, Cheshire

Historical Description

Knutsford, a market-town, two townships, and a parish in Cheshire. The town stands on high ground, adjacent to Tatton Park, amid a charming country, near the river Birken, 15 miles SW by S of Manchester; dates from a remote period; is said to have been called Canute's Ford (corruptedly Knutsford), from the passing of King Canute and his army over a neighbouring ford; contains several old quaint houses of brick and timber; consists of two main streets, both of them narrow, but with some good houses and shops; is a seat of quarter sessions, has a head post office, and a station on the Manchester and Chester branch of the Cheshire Lines railway and on the Manchester and Crewe branch of the L. & N.W.R., a sessions' house, a market-hall, a literary institute and working men's library, and a workhouse. H.M. Prison, in London Road, is a very large and well-constructed edifice surrounded by a lofty wall, and has capacity for about 550 prisoners. The sessions' house stands in front of the prison, and is a handsome stone structure. The parish church, or church of St John Baptist, stands above King Street, is a brick building of 1744, consists of nave and aisles, with embattled tower, and has a fine stained window of 1861 in honour of the then vicar, the Eev E. Clowes, and a beautiful octagonal font of 1865 in memory of James and Hannah Roscoe. The church of St Cross stands at Cross Town, was built in 1881, and contains a font formed out of .an ancient stone cross found in the old churchyard. The Roman Catholic chapel in Queen Street was built in 1856. The Congregational chapel was built in 1865 in lieu of an old previous one in Swinton Square. The Wesleyan chapel in Princess Street was built in 1864-65, and is in the Early English style. The Unitarian chapel on Adam's Hill was built in 1869, and in the burial-ground Mrs Gaskell the author is interred. The grammar school is in King Street, And dates prior to the Reformation; it was reorganised in 1885 under a scheme of the Endowed Schools Commissioners, and the present buildings were erected in 1887. The workhouse stands in Bexton Road, serves for Altrincham union, and has accommodation for about 300 inmates. Markets are held on Saturdays, and fairs on Whit-Tuesday, 23 April, and 8 Nov. There are gasworks at Heath Side and waterworks at Booths Mill. Sir Henry Holland, physician to Queen Victoria, was a native; and his son, Sir Henry Thur-stan Holland, Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1887-92, was elevated to the peerage in 1888 under the title of Baron Knutsford.

The townships are Nether Knutsford and Over Knutsford; they jointly include all the town, and extend beyond it; and they are divided by a streamlet which runs to the Birken. Acreage of Nether Knutsford, 793; population, 4240; acreage of Over Knutsford, 967; population, 403. Cross Town is in Nether Knutsford, and the ecclesiastical parish of Knuts-ford St Cross includes Cross Town and the township of Over Knutsford. Population, 1201. The parish contains also the townships of Ollerton, Toft, and Bexton. Acreage, 4931; population, 5235. The manor of Knutsford belonged once to Nigel of Tatton, passed to the Tableys and the Ellesmeres, and belongs now to Lord Egerton of Tatton. The parochial living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chester; gross value, £510 with residence. Toft and Bexton form a separate ecclesiastical parish, and Ollerton is included in that of Marthall.

Knutsford Parliamentary Division of Cheshire, was .formed under the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, and returns one member to the House of Commons. Population, 55, 073. The division includes the following:-Bucklow- Aston-by-Budworth, Bexton, Crowley, Knutsford (Inferior), Knutsford (Superior), Marthall-cum-Warford, Mere, Mobber-ley, Ollerton, Peover (Inferior), Peover (Superior), Pickmere, Plumley, Tabley (Inferior), Tabley (Superior), Tatton, Toft; Daresbury (part of)-Acton Grange, Antrobus, Appleton-with-Hull, Daresbury, Grappenhall, Hatton, Keckwick, Latch-lord, Moor, Newton, Preston-o'-th'-Hill, Seven Oaks, Stretton, Walton (Inferior), Walton (Superior), Whitley (Inferior), Whitley (Superior); Prestbury (part of)-Adiington, Alder-ley (Nether), Alderiey (Over), Bollinfee, Bollington, Butley, -Capesthome, Chelford, Chorley, Fallibroome, Fulshaw, Ket-.tieshuime, Lyme Handley, Macclesfield Forest, Macclesfield, -Marton, Mottram (St Andrew), Newton, Pott Shrigley, Pow-nall Fee, Poynton, Prestbury, Rainow, Siddington, Snelson, Tytherington, Upton, Warford (Great), Withington (Lower), Withington (Old), Woodford, Worth; Leftwich (part of)- Birches, Hulse. Lache Dennis, Lostock Gralam, Nether Peover, Newhall, Rudheath, Lordship, Shipbrook, Shurlach-cum-Bradford, Stublach; Stockport (part of)-Disley, Taxall, Yeardsley-cum-Whaley; Northwich (part of)-Allostock, Blackden, Brereton-cum-Smethwick, Byley-cum-Yatehonse, Church Hulme, Cotton, Cranage, Davenport, Goostrey-cum-Barnshaw, Kermincham, Leese, Mooresbarrow-cum-Parma, Somerford Booths, Somerford, Sproston, Swettenham, Twem-low; Warrington, municipal borough (the part in Cheshire).

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyCheshire 
Ecclesiastical parishKnutsford St. John the Baptist 
HundredBucklow 
Poor Law unionAltrincham 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Knutsford from the following:


Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cheshire is available to browse.


Maps

Online maps of Knutsford are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Cheshire papers online:


Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Cheshire, 1580 is available on the Heraldry page.

CountyCheshire East
RegionNorth West
CountryEngland
Postal districtWA16
Post TownKnutsford

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