i oo Knutsford. 



Three miles beyond Mobberley is KNUTSFORD, that 

 celebrated and interesting little town which the late Mrs 

 Gaskell is believed to have alluded to in her description 

 of " Cranford," and which has been made the subject, 

 by the Rev. Henry Green, of the best of our local his- 

 tories.* Here, on the i8th October 1832, stayed the 

 Princess Victoria and the Duchess of Kent, while on 

 their way from Chester to Chatsworth, and it was then 

 that the "George and Dragon" was converted into the 

 "Royal George." Knutsford is important, also, as the 

 seat of a great gaol, and is thence considered, by some, 

 the " capital" of North Cheshire. Of the usages of the 

 old town, one, at least, is unique. On the occasion of 

 specially-interesting weddings, every householder works 

 upon the ground in front of his house a pretty device or 

 motto in coloured sands, so that the streets and road- 

 ways are one continuous arabesque. Really beautiful was 

 the wreathing-over of the ground with red and yellow, 

 blue and white, on that sunny forenoon, March 10, 

 1863, when the fairest daughter of the "Flora Danica" 

 became the bride of the Prince of Wales, and the more 

 remarkable from having all been executed before break- 

 fast-time. 



* Knutsford : its Traditions and History ; with Reminiscences, 

 Anecdotes, and Notices of the Neighbourhood. By Henry Green, 

 A.M. 1859. Pp. 156. Perhaps I ought to say the best of the 

 local Cheshire histories, that of Droylsden, by Mr John Higson, 

 being admirable of its kind. 



