Vale Royal Abbey

The Vale Royal Abbey dated back to 1278 when it became one of the largest Cistercian abbeys in England. It fell into ruin during the reformation and in its place the current House was built .

It is around this marvellous building that the golf course now plays. The House itself fell into major disrepair in the 1970’s and 80’s and it was agreed with the local authority that the only way to safeguard the House was to allow the developer to build some 50 houses along the northern boundary and an 18 hole golf course.

The site was pleasantly undulating and the subsoil broadly sandy so from a design and constructional point of view the course was relatively straightforward to develop. What proved difficult was developing the layout bearing in mind the safety issues with the proposed houses and the difficulty of establishing two 9 holes both returning to the clubhouse.

The course was developed as a private members course and makes excellent use of the natural Rookery pool to the north, the Vale Royal Abbey itself and four other newly formed lakes.

Copyright © 2005 Simon Gidman IGCA All Rights Reserved.