Coordinates: 53°21′00″N 2°12′58″W / 53.350°N 2.216°W / 53.350; -2.216
Handforth is a suburban town between Wilmslow, Heald Green and Styal in Cheshire, England. In the 1960s and 1970s, two overspill housing estates were built to re-house people from inner city Manchester, Spath Lane in Handforth and Colshaw Farm nearby in Wilmslow.
Handforth's original name was Handforth cum-Bosden, and was for many years in the parish of Cheadle. The name "Handforth" is believed to originate from the Saxon Hanna's Ford, when there was such a crossing on the River Dean. The first mention of Handforth was in a charter which is dated between 1233 and 1236.
During the Crusades, Handforth acquired its own Coat of Arms, which displays the Honford Star. The Honford Star originated from Henry de Honford who, while fighting in the Crusades, painted a silver star on his black shield after seeing a star fall from the sky during a night attack on the Saracens. The town was referred to as Honford in John Speede's map of the area in 1611, after the local feudal family known as the de Honford's.