TheBourchier knot is a variety ofheraldic knot. It was used as aheraldic badge by the Bourchier family, whose earliest prominent ancestor in England wasJohn de Bourchier (alias Boucher, Boussier, etc., d. c. 1330), a Judge of theCommon Pleas, seated at Stanstead Hall in the parish ofHalstead, Essex. He was the father ofRobert Bourchier, 1st Baron Bourchier (d.1349),Lord Chancellor of England. The various branches of his descendants held the titlesBaron Bourchier,Count of Eu,Viscount Bourchier,Earl of Essex,Baron Berners,Baron FitzWarin andEarl of Bath. The knot should perhaps have been called the "FitzWarin knot" as according toBoutell (1864) the device was first used by theFitzWarin family,^[2] whose heir was the Bourchier family.

The Bourchier knot is shown in two forms: as areef knot and as agranny knot.

• Relief sculpture of a Bourchier knot (of the reef knot variety) on the chest-tomb in Bampton Church, Devon, supposed to be that of Thomasine Hankford (d.1453), heiress of thefeudal barony of Bampton, wife ofWilliam Bourchier, 9th Baron FitzWarin (1407-1470), great-grandson of the 1st Baron Bourchier.

• Bourchier knots on the monument ofWilliam Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath (1557-1623) in St Peter's Church,Tawstock, Devon.

• Beningbrough Hall,North Yorkshire, owned at one time by a branch of the Bourchier family. A large Bourchier knot is cut into a lawn adjoining the house.
• On the tomb ofThomas Bourchier (c.1404-1486),Archbishop of Canterbury inCanterbury Cathedral
• Sculpted on the Tudor gatehouse ofTawstock Court in North Devon, seat of the BourchierEarls of Bath.
• Tawstock Church in North Devon, visible on monuments to Bourchiers andWrey baronets.

• Aveling, S.T. Heraldry: Ancient and Modern, New York, 1891. (Illustration of granny-knot form)
• Mollett, J.W., Illustrated Dictionary of Art and Archeology by J W Mollett, 1883. (Fig.410, Illustration of reef-knot form)[1]
• Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Complete Guide to Heraldry, 1909, pp. 390,469.

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• Decorative knots
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