Cheam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
The area is served by Cheam railway station.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Places of Interest
[edit] Lumley Chapel
Situated next to St Dunstan's church, it is the oldest standing building in the London Borough of Sutton.
[edit] 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 10 am - 5 pm, Sunday & Bank Holiday Monday 2-5 pm. 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.
[edit] Nonsuch Mansion
A Gothic revival mansion within Nonsuch Park built in 1802-6. The service wing is occasionally open to the public.
[edit] The Old Rectory
A massive timber framed Tudor house, occasionally open to the public.
[edit] 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 Park backs onto Nonsuch Park, with many facilities such as tennis courts, crazy golf, football pitches and a children's playground.
[edit] Schools
There are a number of schools in Cheam, most notably Nonsuch High School, a grammar school for girls and Cheam High School, a mixed comprehensive. There are also a number of primary schools in the area such as Cheam Fields Primary, Cheam Park Farm Nursery and Infants School, Cheam Park Farm Juniors, Nonsuch Primary and St. Dunstans Primary.
[edit] Cultural references
In most seasons of the comedy series Hancock's Half Hour, Tony Hancock lived in the fictional road Railway Cuttings, in fictional East Cheam.
[edit] Notable people
- Harry Secombe once lived in Cheam.
- David Bellamy attended Cheam Fields Primary School
[edit] Nearby places
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Open Directory Project - Cheam directory category
- Hancock's Legacy David McKie in The Guardian, November 30, 2006.
- Cheam Rangers [1]
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