Vale Royal Abbey, Whitegate, Vale Royal, Cheshire
This grand country house stands on the site of a former Cistercian abbey. The foundations of the abbey church stood to the north-east of the present house. The building of it began in 1277 and the monks had moved in by 1281. At the dissolution the site was sold in 1543 to Thomas Holcroft. He 'plucked down' the abbey church and altered and extended the site. In 1616 the house passed to the Cholmondeleys, whose family owned the house until 1947.
