St Mary'S Church, Whitegate

St Mary's Church is in the village of Whitegate, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Middlewich. Its benefice is combined with that of St Peter, Little Budworth. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. The authors of the Buildings of England series state that the "church is placed so happily against trees on a hillside that it makes the perfect, comforting picture of the Victorian village church". HistoryA chapel has stood on this site of the present church since the founding of the Cistercian Abbey of Vale Royal in 1277. The Cistercian were known as the white monks and the name of the village at the gate of the abbey refers to this. A reference is made in an Act of 1542 to a church at the White Gate of Vale Royal Abbey. There are documentary records relating to repairs to the church between 1602 and 1646. In 1715 the church was a wood and plaster structure in a ruinous condition. Around 1728 the church was rebuilt in brick, the aisles were widened, and the walls of the nave were raised to allow galleries to be built. In 1874–75 the church was rebuilt largely at the expense of Lord Delamere, the architect being John Douglas of Chester. Douglas remodelled the exterior almost completely, but retained much of the earlier internal fabric.

St Mary's Church is in the village of Whitegate, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Middlewich. Its benefice is combined with that of St Peter, Little Budworth. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. The authors of the Buildings of England series state that the "church is placed so happily against trees on a hillside that it makes the perfect, comforting picture of the Victorian village church". HistoryA chapel has stood on this site of the present church since the founding of the Cistercian Abbey of Vale Royal in 1277. The Cistercian were known as the white monks and the name of the village at the gate of the abbey refers to this. A reference is made in an Act of 1542 to a church at the White Gate of Vale Royal Abbey. There are documentary records relating to repairs to the church between 1602 and 1646. In 1715 the church was a wood and plaster structure in a ruinous condition. Around 1728 the church was rebuilt in brick, the aisles were widened, and the walls of the nave were raised to allow galleries to be built. In 1874–75 the church was rebuilt largely at the expense of Lord Delamere, the architect being John Douglas of Chester. Douglas remodelled the exterior almost completely, but retained much of the earlier internal fabric.