Alan Garner inherited the Legend of Alderley from his grandfather. It became central to three of his books, with the result that it is now best known to the public through his novels.

The Edge continues to inspire the imaginations of those who live in the region today, but visitors to the site are often unaware of the legend. Local communities around Alderley Edge hold rich forms of personal local memory, and direct experience, of this unique place - while over many years, academics and experts have attempted to analyse and understand its history. This project brings to the surface these varied kinds of knowledge, offering an open platform to explore the role of tradition and imagination in placemaking.

Published Sources, concerning the Legend’s Circulation

‘Returning the other day, to Macclesfield by way of Monks-heath, near Alderley-park, the seat of John Thomas Stanley, Esq. I could not help noticing, a new sign which had lately superceded the ancient one of the Coach and Horses, at a Public house there. It is tolerably well painted; and as the subject appeared to be somewhat singular, I endeavoured to ascertain the story on which it was founded; supposing, as I afterwards learned, that it bore some allusion to a popular tradition, which has long been current in the neighbourhood.’

A Perambulator, Manchester Mail, 1805

‘To stamp the following tale with respectability , I shall first observe, that it was related by no less a personage than the Parson of the parish ; who with the gravity attendant on his station, used to sit in the corner, and having gained the attention of his audience round the fireside, would give the Legend of “The Iron Gates” in almost the same tone and manner he used in his professional functions…’

The Cheshire Enchanter, Or, The Legend of the Iron Gates: Containing an Explanation of the Sign of the Public House at Monk's Heath, Near Macclesfield (J. Innes, ?1820)

‘The sign of the alehouse on Alderley Edge represents The Wizard standing beneath some old fir trees, and pointing to the distant plain of Cheshire, as if he were shewing where the battle would be fought, the fate of which he and his enchanted army would someday decide…’

Louisa Stanley, Alderley Edge and its Neighbourhood (J. Swinnerton, 1843)

‘My grandfather told me this tale. He told it in the dark of his forge, and by the side of his hearth, and in his garden as we pulled rhubarb. He told it with simplicity, respect, authority; and he would not have brooked doubt. It was his truth, a part of him, which he passed on.

Here is how he told it. And it is the manner of telling that is important…’

Alan Garner, ‘By Seven Firs and Goldenstone: An Account of the Legend of Alderley’, in The Story of Alderley: Living with the Edge, ed. A. J. N. W. Prag (Manchester University Press, 2016)