King Street has always been one of Knutsford's main streets.

It has undergone many changes over the years. The brick cottages at the bottom end of King Street were pulled down to make way for for the rail bridge 1860 - when the railway first came to Knutsford.

In 1907 the architect Richard Harding Watt built the Gaskell Memorial Tower which became the focal point of the street and which now incorporates the Belle Epoque Restaurant and Kings Courtyard Coffee House.

The old Cross Keys Inn was demolished in 1909 and rebuilt as we see it today, and the Royal George Hotel, another old hostelry, was once visited by a young Queen Victoria.

There are many interesting buildings and alleyways along the street. The Ruskin Rooms completed in 1902 can be found at the top end near to the entrance to Tatton Park. Richard Harding Watt greatly admired John Ruskin, (English author and art critic) and incorporated extracts from his works into carved stone panels on some of the buildings he designed.