CHEAM

'Cheam' is a large suburban village close to Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton, England.
It is divided into two main areas: North Cheam and Cheam Village. North Cheam includes more retail shops and supermarkets, whilst Cheam Village and the south of Cheam are more residential.

Contents

History

Places of Interest

Lumley Chapel

Whitehall

Nonsuch Mansion

The Old Rectory

Parks and Gardens

Schools

Trivia

Nearby places

References

External links

History

The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Wallington hundred.
Cheam's roots can be dated back as far as 1018, when Chertsey Abbey owned the area. In the Domesday Book, the Bishop was holding Cheam to cater for the monks.
Cheam appears in Domesday Book as ''Ceiham''. It was held by Archibishop Lanfranc of Canterbury. Its domesday assets were: 4 hides; 1 church, 17 ploughs, 1 acre of meadow, woodland worth 25 hogs. It rendered £14.^[1]
In the Middle Ages, Cheam was known for its potteries, and recent excavations have been discovered by archaeologists. In 1538, part of Cheam was handed over to Henry VIII. The same year, Henry began work on Nonsuch Palace, which he decorated fantastically. This was later sold and demolished. In 1801, the time of the first census, Cheam had a population of 616.
Cheam was the original home of Cheam School which was formed in Whitehall in 1645 and later occupied Tabor Court from 1719 until 1934 when the school moved to Berkshire. Prince Philip attended the school in Cheam in the years immediately preceding its move.

Places of Interest

Lumley Chapel

Situated next to St Dunstan's church, it is the oldest standing building in the London Borough of Sutton.

Whitehall

Whitehall is a timber framed and weatherboarded house in the centre of Cheam Village. It was originally built in about 1500 as a wattle and daub yeoman farmer's house but has been much extended. The external weatherboarded appearance dates from the 18th century. In the garden there is a medieval well which served an earlier building on the site.
The building is open to the public on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday 2-5pm; Saturday 10am - 5pm, Sunday & Bank Holiday Monday 2-5pm. There is an admission charge, and an audio guide. There is a programme of events and changing exhibitions in the house, which also has displays about the history of the house and its inhabitants, nearby Cheam School, and Henry VIII's Nonsuch Palace.

Nonsuch Mansion

A Gothic revival mansion within Nonsuch Park built in 1802-6. The service wing is occasionally open to the public.

The Old Rectory

A massive timber framed tudor house
occasoinaly open to the public

Parks and Gardens

Today Cheam is mainly built up, but still retains Nonsuch Park, also home to a chicken pen, drinking fountain, ice cream shop, and car park. Cheam High School, Nonsuch High School for Girls, a notable grammar school, backs onto the park, as does Cheam Park. Cheam Park only extends to Nonsuch Park, with many facilities such as tennis courts, crazy golf, football pitches and a children's playground.

Schools

There are a number of schools in Cheam, most notably Nonsuch High School a grammar school for girls. Another one is Cheam High School which is a mixed comprehensive school. There are also a number of primary schools in the area such as : St. Dunstans Primary School and Nonsuch Primary School

Trivia

★ Harry Secombe once lived in Cheam.

★ In most seasons of the comedy series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', Tony Hancock lived in the fictional road Railway Cuttings, in fictional East Cheam.

Nearby places

★ Belmont

★ Ewell

★ Morden

★ Sutton

★ Worcester Park

★ Stoneleigh

References

1. Surrey Domesday Book

External links

★ Open Directory Project - ''Cheam'' directory category

★ Hancock's Legacy David McKie in The Guardian, November 30, 2006.