Coat of Arms
“Azure a Saltire between in chief and base two Garbs and in fesse as many Fleurs de lys Or on a Chief Barry wavy of four of the first and Argent an Antique Crown Gules, and for the Crest, out of a Mural Crown Gules charged with four Lozenges conjoined in fesse Or a demi-Lion of the first about the neck a garland of May flowered and leaved proper and holding in the paws an open Book also proper edged and bound Gold”.
The shield is mainly in blue and gold, the liveries of the Earldom and County of Chester. The Saltire-cross refers to the ancient Cross Town portion of Knutsford; the Cheshire sheaves above and below it are for Over Knutsford and Nether Knutsford; and the fleur-de-lys, from the arms of the two Leycester families for their lordships of Tabley and Toft. They also refer to the River Lily. These townships are shown united below a chief of blue and white waves with an ancient crown in red, for the traditional story of “Canute’s Ford”.
Above the shield is the closed helm proper to civic arms, with its decorative mantling of blue and gold, the Cheshire colours.
The Crest is based on a red walled crown for Halton Castle, and the gold lozenges or diamonds on it are from the arms of William Fitz-Nigel, Baron of Halton under the first Norman Earl of Chester, who held the Manor of Knutsford. The red lion is from the arms of the Egerton and Leigh families, and about its neck is a garland of May for the famous Royal May Day Celebrations. The lion holds a book in reference to Mrs Gaskell and her works and the ancient Grammar School.
The Motto “Respice, Aspice, Prospice” (Look to the Past, the Present, and the Future”) is that of the Holland family, Barons and Viscounts who took the title “Lord Knutsford”.
The Arms, presented to the Council by the Nether Knutsford Freeholders Association, were designed by H. Ellis Tomlinson, MA, Heraldic Designer.