- St Mary's Church, Whitegate
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St Mary's Church, Whitegate 
St Mary's Church, Whitegate, from the southwestLocation in Cheshire
St Mary's Church, WhitegateCoordinates: 53°13′12″N 2°33′26″W / 53.2199°N 2.5571°W OS grid reference SJ 628 694 Location Whitegate, Cheshire Country England Denomination Anglican Website St Mary's, Whitegate History Significant associated people Lord Delamere Architecture Status Parish church Functional status Active Heritage designation Grade II Designated 11 October 1949 Architect(s) John Douglas Architectural type Church Completed 1875 Specifications Materials Brick with tiled roof Administration Parish Whitegate, St Mary Deanery Middlewich Archdeaconry Chester Diocese Chester Province York Clergy Vicar(s) Rev Lesley P Eden Laity Organist(s) Andrew Millinchip Parish administrator Mrs L Dutton St Mary's Church, Whitegate, is located 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. [1] The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.[2] 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".[3]
Contents
History
A 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
Architecture
Exterior
The church is built in brick with a tiled roof.[2] Its plan consists of a six-bay nave with aisles, a chancel and a south porch. At the west end is a small tower with an octagonal shingled spire.[5] To the southwest is a vestry.[2]
Interior
The octagonal timber piers from the previous Perpendicular church have been retained. The reredos and the chancel arcades date from around 1876–77, which the authors of the Buildings of England series are of the opinion are not by Douglas.[3] The ring is of eight bells that were set up to commemorate the Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. A medieval bell was presented to the church by Thomas Cholmondeley in 1810. The parish registers date from 1559.[5]
External features
The gateposts, which are crowned by balls, are dated 1736. The iron gates were given in memory of Miss Emily Katherine Cholmondeley.[5]
See also
- List of church restorations, amendments and furniture by John Douglas
References
- ^ Whitegate, St Mary, Church of England, http://www.achurchnearyou.com/whitegate-st-mary/, retrieved 16 October 2009
- ^ a b c "Church of St Mary, Whitegate and Marton", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1160911, retrieved 4 May 2011
- ^ a b Hartwell, Claire; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 666–667, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
- ^ Our history, St Mary's Church, Whitegate, http://www.stmaryswhitegate.org/history.html, retrieved 12 September 2008
- ^ a b c d Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 351–355
- ^ Hubbard, Edward (1991), The Work of John Douglas, London: The Victorian Society, p. 124, ISBN 0-901657-16-6
Categories:- Church of England churches in Cheshire
- Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire
- Grade II listed churches
- John Douglas buildings
- Diocese of Chester
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