Whitegate is a small village in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England, near the towns of

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

and

Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the River Weaver, south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining indus ...

. It is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Whitegate and Marton Whitegate and Marton is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by ...

, in the unitary authority of

Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to l ...

. At its centre is an ancient

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church. Nearby

Vale Royal Abbey Vale Royal Abbey is a former England in the Middle Ages, medieval abbey and later country house in Whitegate, Cheshire, Whitegate, England. The precise location and boundaries of the abbey are difficult to determine in today's landscape. The o ...

was once the largest

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

abbey church in Britain.

The railway

Whitegate was once connected to the national rail network, although the station was some distance from the village centre. The railway branched from the Chester to Manchester (via Northwich) line near Cuddington, with a single stop at Whitegate and terminated at Winsford and Over. The line was principally used for freight to and from the numerous salt works in the Winsford area. Passenger services had a somewhat chequered history, being twice suspended for a number of years during the nineteenth century. After being restored in 1892, following a four-year break, passenger services continued until January 1931 when they were withdrawn for the final time. Whitegate station closed in to all traffic in November 1963, and the whole line in February 1968.

Whitegate Way

By the 1970s the course of the disused railway had been turned into a footpath and bridle way. It is now open from close to the original junction near Cuddington to the site of the Winsford and Over terminus near the

River Weaver The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1721 and the work, which included ...

Whitegate Church of England Primary School - geograph

References

External links

Whitegate Way (Discovercheshire website)Whitegate Way Cycling Route (Discovercheshire website)Whitegate Way Riding Route (Discovercheshire website)Official website of Cheshire West and Chester Council
{{authority control Cheshire West and Chester Villages in Cheshire

The railway

Whitegate Way

See also

References

External links