St Mary's Church, Whitegate

| repeal_date = | amendments = | repealing_legislation = | related_legislation = | status = Current | original_text = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000017915533&view=1up&seq=935 | collapsed = yes }} 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. A reference is made in an act of 1542 (33 Hen. 8. c. 32) 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…

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. that were set up to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. A medieval bell was presented to the church by Thomas Cholmondeley in 1810. The parish registers date from 1559.