A short historical overview of the Parish

Whitegate & Marton emerged in the thirteenth century as satellite hamlets to the Cistercian Vale Royal Abbey, founded by Edward 1 in 1277. The King named the site Vallis Regalis (Vale Royal) and declared it to be “the fairest vale in all England”.

Vale Royal Abbey, the largest Cistercian abbey in England, was administered by 21 abbots from 1270-1535 and was demolished by Henry VIII at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538.

Thomas Holcroft was charged with “plucking down” the buildings and in their place he built Vale Royal Great House. In 1616 the Great House became the family seat of the Cholmondeley’s (Lords Delamere) and remained so for over 300 years during which time the estate grew to some 86 farms and 5,000 acres which is slightly larger than the parish today.

Thus for nearly 750 years the villagers were tenants, first of the feudal Vale Royal abbots, and then of the Cholmondeleys or Delameres. This distinctive history has shaped the topography of the area and accounts for the many listed buildings and for the extensive woodlands and waters to be found in the parish, all of which were once owned by extremely wealthy landowners.

In 1931 Thomas Cholmondeley, the fourth Baron Delamere, left to settle in Kenya and since then the house has served many short-lived functions. In 1995 planning permission was granted to develop the house and grounds for a golf course and clubhouse and to build the adjacent residential properties.

The civil parish of Whitegate & Marton was created when the two separate parishes were combined in 1998.

Much of the centre of Whitegate lies within a Conservation Area that was originally designated by Cheshire County Council in 1974 and whose boundary was revised in 1998. There are many fine, listed buildings within the Parish with origins dating back as far as 1540 (The Parish Church of Saint Mary). The Parish Church is one of several listed buildings located within the conservation area.

Development Patterns – Whitegate & Marton Parish is a very rural parish with several dispersed small clusters of housing and no towns or large villages.

Whitegate village centre is the largest of the clusters. Whitegate village developed along Grange Lane and the road parallel to it, Sutton Field, with a variety of house styles of mainly traditional design developed as a result of staff from an international company (ICI) moving into the area.

Marton comprises a number of small hamlets such as Nova Scotia, Marton Green, Marton Sands and Foxwist Green (a small hamlet with medieval origins close to Whitegate village).

Developments in recent times comprise The Paddocks, Marton, consisting of fourteen modern bungalows on the site of former institutional buildings; a development of nine detached homes at Cassia Green on the site of former commercial premises and most notably, the development of fifty new homes adjacent to the recently constructed Vale Royal Abbey golf course alongside a new road, St Mary’s Drive, linking the Great House with Whitegate Lane.

Within the Parish there are three Park Homes sites and together the number of properties represent a significant percentage of the total homes in Whitegate & Marton (15%).

The overall development pattern is one of rural spaciousness and small developments, many enjoying views across a very attractive landscape.