Knutsford (ˈnʌtsfərd) is a market town in Cheshire, England, southwest of Manchester, northwest of Macclesfield and southeast of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,191.
Knutsford's main town centre streets, Princess Street (also known locally as Top Street) and King Street lower down (also known as Bottom Street), form the hub of the town. At one end of the narrow King Street is an entrance to Tatton Park. The Tatton estate was home to the Egerton family, and has given its name to Tatton parliamentary constituency, which includes the neighbouring communities of Alderley Edge and Wilmslow.
Knutsford is near Cheshire's Golden Triangle, and on the Cheshire Plain between the Peak District to the east and the Welsh mountains to the west. Residents include Coronation Street actress Barbara Knox and footballers Peter Crouch, Sam Ricketts, Michael Jacobs and Phil Jagielka.
History of Cheshire
Knutsford, situated in Cheshire, England, was recorded in the William the Conqueror's Domesday Book of 1086 as Cunetesford ("Canute's ford"). King Canute (Knútr in Old Norse) was the king of England (1016–1035) and later king of Denmark, Norway and parts of Sweden as well. Local tradition says that King Canute blessed a wedding that was taking place and forded the River Lily, which was said to be dangerous then, though other reports say it was the Birkin Brook at or near Booth Mill. The English Place-Name Society gives the name as being derived from the Old English for Knutr's ford or possibly hillock ford.
Knutsford gaol was built in 1817 and later extended in 1853. It was not just built to house those committed of crimes but also to house those who could not be employed. In 1915, due to the low population and there being an ongoing World War the gaol was used as a military prison, for the detention of soldiers found guilty of committing offences. From 1916 it was used to house conscientious objectors who broke the Military Service Act 1916. In April 1916 there was an Easter Rising in Ireland, where rebels hoped to form an independent Ireland free from British rule.