What Is The Real Life Setting Of Elizabeth Gaskell's "Cranford"�?

The imaginary village of Cranford is based on Knutsford in Cheshire, where Gaskell was brought up by an aunt. The novel is really a series of sketches, first published in "Household Words"magazine in 1851-3, about the lives of its inhabitants, mainly genteel spinsters, often drawn from characters the author remembered from her childhood. Much loved in its time and still popular, it is based around the lives of the stern Miss Deborah Jenkyns and her sweet, flustered sister Miss Matty. Miss Matty is later reduced to poverty when her investments collapse, but is rescued by her brother Peter, whose return from India is one of the book's major events. Generally the action of the novel is on a very small scale; its greatest scandal is when a titled widow marries a local doctor; and the nearest thing to danger is in the shape of burglars, who are much dreaded but never actually appear.