The trail will run from 14th – 20th December 2020
The new trail will be formatted exactly like this year’s Pumpkin Path to offer families a chance for some casual festive fun while maintaining social distancing and keeping safe.

Roads will remain open for the event
The event will run informally across the whole week for participants to enjoy at any time whether shops are open or closed
No involvement is expected from town centre businesses including no expectation for any freebies or giveaways. It is up to you if you want to run any promotions or be more involved.

Full details for the event can be found on Facebook by visiting the event here.

We have already selected all of the hosts for the stickers to go in shop windows, but there will be future opportunities to be involved.

Don’t forget to send us a photo of your Christmas displays once they are complete and we will get an album for these started very soon on our Facebook page. The Mayor will be judging the Best Dressed Window Competition mid-December!

If you have any enquiries regarding the trail event or any of our events in general, please feel free to contact alex.brown@knutsfordtowncouncil.gov.uk

Visitor’s find a lot to explore with three galleries over two buildings, two beautifully maintained gardens and a well-stocked gift shop. There is also an exciting, ever changing exhibition programme, demonstrations, walks, talks and activities.

The Heritage Centre is also the home of the Knutsford Millennium Tapestry. Set in three distinct panels. This remarkable tapestry is more than 13 metres long and was created by over 3,000 local residents to celebrate Knutsford in the millennium year.

The centre is ideal for those wishing to call in and take a peek or browse at a more leisurely place.

Address: Knutsford Heritage Centre, 90A King Street, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6ED

Telephone: 01565 650506
Website:  http://www.knutsfordheritage.co.uk
Email: info@knutsfordheritage.co.uk

Opening Times:

Summer (April – September)
Tuesday to Saturday   11am – 4pm
Sunday   2pm – 5pm
Closed Monday

Winter (October – March)
Tuesday to Saturday   11am – 4pm
Closed Sunday and Monday

Tabley House Collection

Tabley House was built by the architect John Carr of York for Sir Peter Byrne Leicester in 1767. The Leicesters lived at Tabley from the 14th Century, first in the Old Hall on a moated island. and later in the fine house as it stands today.

St Peter’s Chapel, originally built on the island in 1678, was moved in 1927 and re-erected on its present site which is adjacent to the house.  The Chapel and the ante-chapel, which now operates as a Tea Room during the open season, have impressive stained glass, (one window designed by Burne Jones) and a grand fireplace originally installed in the Old Hall in 1619.

Tabley House Collection

The Collection is housed in the principal state rooms of the fine, grade 1 Palladian mansion.  It contains some of the finest British paintings of the 18th and 19th Century.  Paintings by Turner, Lawrence and others, seen in the rooms for which they were painted for.

Also included in the Collection is some fine furniture from cabinet makers Chippendale and Gillow.  You will also find some fascinating family history of the Leicesters.

Opening Times

The Collection is open to the general public from April to October, Thursday to Sunday, and Bank Holidays, from 1pm – 5pm.  The last admission is recommended to be at 4.00 pm to allow the whole of the collection to be enjoyed.  The tea room is open from 12 noon until 5.30pm on the same days as the house is open.  Group visits can also be arranged outside the normal opening times.

Admission Charges

Adults £5, Children and students (with card) £1.50.  Carers are free of charge.

Access for Mobility Impaired

Both the Collection and Tea Rooms are accessible for wheelchair users, push chairs and others with mobility impairments.  Access is gained via a separate entrance with a lift. To save time on the day it is advised the office be informed before the day, with your estimated time of arrival.  Please note that there are some uneven surfaces.

Free Parking

There is ample free parking, just follow the signs for the Collection and Tea Room.  The estate is shared with other residents and it is respectfully requested that visitors park in the designated areas for the Collection and Tea Room only.

Coaches and Groups

Coach parties and groups are most welcome however, it should be noted that there are height and width restrictions on the main public entrance and an alternative entrance for coaches is available.  The Tabley House office should be contacted in the first instance.

Footwear

As with many historic properties, Tabley House has lovely oak floors which are 250 years old.  They need to be protected from sharp heels therefore heels with no heels should have a width less than a two pence piece.

For further information about Tabley House, the tea rooms or the Collection visit http://www.tableyhouse.co.uk.

The Tabley House Collection is managed on behalf of the University of Manchester by the Tabley House Collection Trust. Registered charity number 1047299.

[/fusion_text][fusion_builder_row_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” border_position=”all” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”true” spacing_right=”” type=”1_4″][fusion_button link=”http://www.knutsford.net/local-attractions/” title=”local attractions” target=”_self” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”default” 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Brook Street Heritage Site

Brook Street Heritage site includes the chapel, graveyard, gardens, chapel hall and exhibition rooms.

The final resting place of Mrs E Gaskell

The Chapel is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building and was built in  1689, soon after the passing of the Act of Toleration 1689. It is built in red brick with a stone-flagged roof in two storeys with two external staircases. Inside is a gallery on three sides and a pulpit on a long wall. The pulpit dates from the late 17th or early 18th century and the pews from 1859.

It is the burial place of the novelist Mrs Gaskell who died in 1865, her husband William Gaskell who died in 1884, and her two daughters who died in 1908 and 1913.

The Act of Toleration allowed non-conformists to build their own places of worship  but because the dissenters had been persecuted for so long, it was built to resemble a farm building with simple diamond glass windows. That way it was hoped to attract very little attention. Exterior staircases were built so that lookouts could stand and warn the congregation of any trouble that may arise.  The building has changed little over the years and it’s beauty remains in it’s simplicity.

Garden

Behind the Chapel lies a well kept garden which is surrounded by trees.  In the centre of the lawn is Mulberry Tree.  The sapling was taken from Shakespeare’s garden to commemorate the two years Elizabeth Gaskell spent at boarding school in Stratford -upon-Avon.

Chapel Hall

The Chapel Hall was completed in 1886 for the purpose of educating the people. There was no state education in those days and Unitarians felt education was extremely important for everyone.  Nowadays the hall is used for social activities and concerts.  It is also hired out to community groups for example the local photographic society and the  Actor Tribe drama group.[/fusion_text][fusion_builder_row_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” border_position=”all” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”true” spacing_right=””][fusion_button link=”http://www.knutsford.net/knutsford-church/” title=”Knutsford Churches” target=”_self” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”default” button_gradient_top_color=”” button_gradient_bottom_color=”” button_gradient_top_color_hover=”” button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”” accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” size=”” stretch=”default” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]Knutsford Churches[/fusion_button][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” 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Churches[/fusion_button][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” border_position=”all” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”false” spacing_right=””][fusion_button link=”http://www.knutsford.net/local-attractions/” title=”Local Attractions” target=”_self” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”default” 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Tatton Park is a historic estate that may be accessed from the bottom of King Street in Knutsford. The second (main) entrance is at the Rostherne end of the park.  The  estate contains a mansion – Tatton Hall, a manor house dating from medieval times – Tatton Old Hall, gardens, a farm and a deer park of 2,000 acres (8.1 km²).

Tatton Park is a popular visitor attraction and hosts over 100 events each year. The estate is owned by the National Trust, who administer it jointly with Cheshire East Council. Since 1999 it hosts North West England’s annual Royal Horticultural Flower show.

History

There is evidence of human habitation in the area of the estate going back to the Iron Age. In medieval times the village of Tatton was on the site. This has since disappeared but the area of the village and its roadways are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. By the end of the 15th century the estate was owned by the Stanley family who built and occupied the Old Hall. By the 1580s this building had been enlarged and it was owned by the Brereton family. In 1598 the estate was bought by Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Chancellor of England. Sir Thomas and his children rarely visited the estate and it was loaned to tenants. At the end of the 17th century the estate was owned by John Egerton, Sir Thomas’ grandson, who built a new house on the site of the present mansion, some 0.75 miles (1 km) to the west of the Old Hall. This mansion, Tatton Hall, was extensively altered and extended between 1780 and 1813. In 1795 the estate covered 251,000 acres (1,020 km²) (392 sq.miles).

The estate remained in the ownership of the Egerton family until the last Lord Egerton died without issue in 1958. He left the house to the National Trust and gave them the park in lieu of death duties. However, as the estate itself was sold by his executors, Cheshire County Council committed to a 99-year lease in place of an endowment to ensure that it was preserved for the benefit of the nation. The Trust’s ownership (run now by Cheshire East Council) is some 2,000 acres (8.1 km²) (3.1 sq.miles). The Hall and Park have been developed into a visitor attraction on an increasingly commercial basis, which has caused significant controversy in particular with the recent BeWilderWood proposals.

[/fusion_text][fusion_builder_row_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”2_3″ layout=”2_3″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” border_position=”all” element_content=”” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”true” spacing_right=”” type=”2_3″][fusion_imageframe image_id=”996″ style_type=”none” stylecolor=”” hover_type=”none” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” align=”none” lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” alt=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]http://www.knutsford.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC03375-800×533.jpg[/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_3″ layout=”1_3″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_position=”all” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”false” type=”1_3″][fusion_text]Low Season – 28th October 2017 to 28th March 2018

High Season – 29th March 2018 to 26th October 2018

* Please note the Mansion and Farm are closed on Monday except Bank Holidays during High Season. Farm also open New Year’s Eve. Tatton Park is entirely closed Christmas Day

Please note that during 1 – 29 Oct, the Mansion will open at 12pm – 4pm (closed Mondays)[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column_inner][/fusion_builder_row_inner][fusion_text]

From walks to wedding shows, car shows to Canalettos, there is something to suit every passion at Tatton Park. Local attractions include:

• Tatton Park’s neo classical mansion – A magnificent Cheshire stately home.
• Tatton Park’s award-winning gardens – One of the region’s favourite gardens to visit.
• Tatton Park’s working farm – A great day out for the family.
• Tatton Park’s Tudor Old Hall – The estate’s oldest and most haunted building.
• Tatton Park’s 1,000 acre deer park – A beautiful place to go for a day outdoors.
• The Stables – A great place to eat in the Stableyard.
• Speciality Shops offering  the best in local and Cheshire produce and gifts.
• one of the best annual events programmes in the Cheshire and Manchester region.

Please check the opening times before your visit.

For further information visit the Tatton Park website at http://www.tattonpark.org.uk.

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St Oswald (Lower Peover) can be found in an attractive village via a cobbled lane.  The church remains one of the best examples of half timbered frames in the country.  Built in the fourteenth century, the chapels and tower were added later.  Major repairs in 1852 saw a single span roof replaced with three gabled.

Internally, the church contains many fittings from the seventeenth century which include the pews and pulpit.

A church has actually been on this site since at least 1269, when it was a chapel of ease to Great Budworth. The west tower dates from 1582, the mason being John Bowden.  A south chapel was added around 1610, and the north chapel in 1624.  The aisles were altered and re-roofed in 1852 by Anthony Salvin and there have been subsequent restorations.

The tower is built in Alderley sandstone and the body of the church is timber framed. Its plan consists of a west tower, a nave and a chancel, with north and south aisles and chapels at their east ends. The tower has three stages, with a west door above which is a two-light window. On the north, west and south faces are lozenge-shaped clock-faces and two-light bell openings. The top of the tower is crenellated and on each corner are diagonal buttresses.

The north chapel of St Oswald is the Holford chapel, which is now used for the organ chamber and vestry. The south chapel is the Hulme or Grosvenor chapel, and at its east end, divided by a screen, is the small Shakerley chapel. The aisles are separated from the nave by an arcade of medieval octagonal oak piers. Many of the pews are Jacobean, as is the pulpit. The cylindrical font is of uncertain date, and was reputedly brought here from Norton Priory in 1322. The screen to the Holford chapel dates from the early 17th century, and the screen separating the chapel from the nave is dated 1642. The screen to the south chapel is Jacobean, consisting of four bays surmounted by three large spheres. In the chapel is a large 13th-century chest made from one piece of oak, 6 feet (2 m) in length and 2 feet (1 m) wide. In the church are two cupboards dated 1737 which were used for the distribution of the bread charities. Also in the church are memorials to the Shakerley, Leicester and Cholmondeley families. One of these is to Godfrey Shakerley who died in 1696 and another is to Katherine Shakerley who died in 1725.

The two-manual organ was built by Alexander Young of Manchester in 1880 and modified and overhauled in 1985 by G.Sixsmith and Son of Mossley. The parish registers date from 1570 and the churchwardens’ accounts from 1699. There is a ring of six bells cast by John Warner and Sons in 1912.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Knutsford.Net: St. Oswald (Lower Peover)

Quarry Bank Mill and Country Park

The River Bollin flowing past Quarry Bank Mill

Quarry Bank Mill is in Styal, approximately 10 miles from Knutsford. It is one of the best preserved textile mills of the Industrial Revolution and is a museum of the cotton industry. Recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, it inspired the 2013 television series The Mill.

Quarry Bank, Styal has two different faces.  One is of cottages standing just as they did in Elizabethan days, thatch and all, one up, one down, while the other is the large, two garaged houses with ions on the gateposts and very colourful gardens indeed.  It is the older section that has visitors by the hundreds gazing the cottages threaded between the long rows of brick and slate.

Samuel Greg leased land at Quarrell Hole on Pownall Fee from Lord Stamford, who imposed a condition that none of the surrounding trees should be pruned, felled or lopped, maintaining the woodland character of the area. The factory was built in 1784 by Greg to spin cotton. When Greg retired in 1832 it was the largest such business in the United Kingdom. The water-powered Georgian mill still produces cotton calico. The Gregs were careful and pragmatic, paternalistic millowners, and the mill was expanded and changed throughout its history. When Greg’s son, Robert Hyde Greg, took over the business, he introduced weaving. Samuel Greg died in 1834.

The estate surrounding the mill was developed and Greg converted farm buildings in Styal to house workers. As the mill increased in size, housing was constructed for the workers.  A chapel and a school were built by the Gregs who moved into Quarry Bank House next to the mill.

The estate and mill were donated to the National Trust in 1939 by Alexander Carlton Greg and are open to the public. The mill continued in production until 1959. In 2006 the National Trust acquired Quarry Bank House and its gardens and, in 2010, the gardener’s house and the upper gardens. In 2013 the mill received 130,000 visitors and the trust launched an appeal to raise £1.4 million to restore a worker’s cottage, a shop and the Greg’s glasshouses and digitise records relating to Gregs and the mill workers.

They say the name ‘Styal’ meant ‘the secret place’, because when the taxman long ago, came to check on how much wheat and barley were being grown, the village was suspiciously quiet and vacant.  Just like today and although there is no proof of it’s authenticity, it makes a good story!

Villagers have a shop  and a post office all under on roof, a railway line with trains in each direction every half hour. There is a Garden Centre, an inn named the Ship, a war memorial and the old Co-op, long shut I’m afraid.  In the window old fashioned Fry’s Cocoa tins and a bowl of brown eggs are displayed, along with other relics Grannie may remember.  There is a church, village green, two football teams and a white-clad cricket team.  The squirrels are grey but there isn’t a traffic light to be seen.

Well worth a visit…..

For more details on Quarry Bank Mill and Country Park visit the National Trust’s website at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/quarry-bank.

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