The familiar Stafford knot, sometimes erroneously referred to as the Staffordshire Knot, first made its formal appearance in the County on the Heraldic Shield of the Stafford family in 1583. Since then, its use has become widespread and it appears on all manner of things made, used or published in the County. However the knot was much in evidence long before its adoption by the Stafford family. For example, a seventh century bell from the church of St. Mure in Ireland carries an exact replica of the knot.

A walk around the Church of St. Peter ad Vincula (St. Peter in Chains) in Stoke-on-Trent reveals the site of the altar of the predecessor to the present day church and a Saxon stone cross … with a knot. There are no clear records of when the first church appeared on the site, but it is known that the first stone church was built in 805AD. It was around this time that this cross was first marked with a Stafford Knot.

Knots similar to the Stafford knot are found on the patterns of the collars of the order of the Garter and the Order of St. Patrick. Is it merely coincidence that one of the founders of the Order of the Garter in the reign of Edward III was Ralph de Stafford?

The origins of the knot’s use in Staffordshire are nonetheless unclear. There are several local traditions as to how it became popular within the county. The one that was popular in the North of the county is macabre and certainly the most unusual.

It was said that there were three criminals sentenced to be hanged at Stafford. When the executioner arrived at the town he found that he only had one rope to deal with the hapless trio. At that time it was illegal to postpone the execution or to give one of the three precedence over the others. So the executioner devised a method whereby he could comply with the law by making the rope into three loops and dispatching the three together. A variation on this story has one of the convicts as the inventor of the knot - and being spared his sentence for devising the solution!

In the southern half of the county some claim that the knot represents the high quality steel that was once manufactured in quantity in the area. However there is little question that the knot predates the era of steel making in Staffordshire. Others say that the knot is nothing more than a double "S" representing Stafford-Shire and the first heraldic mention of the knot in 1342 supports this.

Whichever tale you believe is, of course, for you to decide; though the hangman's multiple noose is probably the one you will remember.

The following alternative story was received from Noel Slater in Albrighton, UK.

My parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts were all born in Stafford. Some of them took part in the Stafford Millennium Pageant in, I think 1913 - that being a thousand years since Ethelfleda built a defended stronghold at Stafford (and also, I believe, at Tamworth and another location in the area).

The legend as told to me was that Ethelfleda, in a symbolic jesture, took off her girdle and said to the local thanes something to the effect (my words) "That with this girdle I bind us all together" and so the three different local areas were bound together to form what eventually became Staffordshire.

This was the start of the Staffordshire Knot as told at the start of the Stafford Millennium Pageant in 1913. I had newspaper cuttings (now mislaid) from either the Stafford Chronicle or Newsletter of that date, with photos showing relatives taking part in the pageant.

Thanks to David Lingwood, Rector of St.Peter ad Vincula, for correcting details about his church.