Sign for the Staffordshire Knot

Image: © Jonathan Kington Taken: 10 Nov 2010

The Image is located on the junction of Well Lane and Marshfield Lane in Gillow Heath. The knot is more properly known as the Stafford Knot and, although not a heraldic device in its own right, has been used on coats of arms throughout the county of Staffordshire. There is a seal existing in the British Museum London which was the property of Lady Joan Stafford (later to become Lady Wake). It would seem that Lady Wake used on her seal a border made up from her husband's badge, the Wake Knot, made up from the initials W and O (for Wake and Ormond) intertwined. The seal quite clearly depicts a cordon of four knots in the shape of the Stafford Knot. The knot was handed down through the Earl's family, and it was gradually used by the citizens and freemen of Stafford, until it was eventually included in the Stafford Borough Coat of Arms. It is incorporated into the badges and symbols of many organisations and companies, including the Police, Fire Service and Ambulance Service. It was also used for many years by the Stoke-on-Trent potters as part of their marks on the bases of chinaware. There is a fanciful tale that the Knot was originally created by a Sherrif of Staffordshire who wanted to hang three men at once, but this is a bit far-fetched.

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