AS the Heritage Centre prepares to re-open this weekend, a 200-year-old chair will now be one of the centrepieces of the museum.

After being shut for all of the first lockdown, and only reopening briefly in August and September last year before shutting again, this Saturday, June 12, the centre will open its doors once again.

And as part of the change, the sedan chair which usually lives upstairs in the office, has been brought down and installed in the shop area so that visitors can view it close up.

The chair is a regular feature of the Knutsford Royal May Day procession where one young girls sits inside and is carried around the town.

And for the rest of the year, it lives at the Heritage Centre.

Vivien Hainsworth, the archivist at the Heritage Centre said: “The sedan chair is reputed to have belonged to Lady Jane Stanley, an aristocratic lady who lived in the town more than 200 years ago.

Knutsford Guardian: Ida Rose Jackson steps from the sedan chair. May Day 1912Ida Rose Jackson steps from the sedan chair. May Day 1912

“We are grateful to the Knutsford Royal May Day committee for allowing us to look after this iconic item from the town’s past.”

The chairs were used by the wealthy to enable them to travel door to door without having to step on the dirty, unpaved road surfaces.

Knutsford Guardian: The sedan chair now in downstairs in Knutsford Heritage Centre - Picture: Knutsford Royal May Day CommitteeThe sedan chair now in downstairs in Knutsford Heritage Centre - Picture: Knutsford Royal May Day Committee

The museum will also offer an exhibition on 1,000 years of Knutsford’s history throughout the summer, as well as the Knutsford Tapestry on permanent display.

Following the opening day, the centre will be open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11am – 4pm.