Royal May Day Festival
Every year, on the first Saturday in May, Knutsford holds a May Day festival. The festival dates back to 1864, when the first May Day procession was held. The procession moves through the town to the Heath, where the crowning ceremony of the May Queen takes place. This is accompanied by music and dancing, including dancing around the Maypole.
The festival rapidly increased in popularity from its modest beginnings. This was greatly helped by the railway’s arrival in 1862, which made Knutsford readily accessible from neighbouring towns. During Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Year in 1887, Knutsford was visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales. They witnessed the May Day parade and crowning ceremony and were pleased to allow the festival to be known thereafter as the Royal May Day festival.
During the May Day weekend, there is also a large funfair on The Heath. This is said to be one of the largest travelling funfairs in the UK.
Horse Racing
Records show that horse racing took place on The Heath for more than 200 years. Here, the gentry from Cheshire country houses raced their horses and gambled at the cock pit.
A 1791 guide to Cheshire noted that: “The annual race meeting at Knutsford is remarkable for being honoured with a more brilliant assemblage of nobility and gentry than any other in the country; not excepting even Chester”
An 1815 print entitled “The Adventures of Knutsford Racecourse” shows a large grandstand, stalls and booths. In 1865, the Knutsford Grandstand Company opened a more elegant grandstand. They were hoping to attract customers who had recently arrived in the town by train. Races were advertised, and special trains ran. Unfortunately, the arrival of the newcomers meant that the old supporters, the Cheshire gentry, lost interest. Racing ended in 1873 when Lord Egerton refused permission to use The Heath.
Highwayman Higgins
One of the more surprising chapters in the Heath’s history concerns a man who lived beside it for over a decade in the mid-eighteenth century, riding out across it to hounds and presenting himself to his neighbours as a respectable country gentleman. “Squire” Higgins, as he was known, occupied the large house overlooking the Heath now marked by a plaque in Gaskell Avenue. What his neighbours did not know was that he was a convicted felon returned illegally from transportation, a prolific burglar, a highwayman who held up coaches on the Chester Road with his horse’s hooves muffled to avoid disturbing the neighbourhood, and a murderer. His extraordinary double life — and the equally extraordinary manner of his death — make him one of the most remarkable figures in Knutsford’s history.
Military Gatherings
The Heath has witnessed several significant military gatherings.
During the Civil War, both Royalists and Parliamentarians camped on The Heath, which then covered a larger area than it does today.
In 1644, Prince Rupert made camp with his Royalist troops on The Heath. Later in August 1651, it was the turn of the Parliamentarians, with some 12,000 troops under the command of General Lambert, to camp there.
At the time of the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, the Cheshire Militia was assembled on the Heath and marched to Manchester to help stop the southwards march of the Jacobite army. In the event, strong action at Preston had caused the collapse of the Jacobite cause, and the troops did not engage.
Most recently, American troops were camped on the Heath during the Second World War.
Most of this information, and more, can be found in the book “Knutsford: A History” by Joan Leach.
