Cheam () is a suburb of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, southwest of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

. It is adjacent to two large parks,

Nonsuch Park Nonsuch Park is a public park between Stoneleigh, Surrey, Stoneleigh, Cheam, and Ewell in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. It borders the London Borough of Sutton. It is the last surviving part of the Little Park of Nonsuch, ...

and Cheam Park. Nonsuch Park contains the listed

Nonsuch Mansion Nonsuch Mansion is a historic house located within Nonsuch Park in north Surrey, England near the boundary with Greater London. It is in the borough of Epsom and Ewell, adjacent to the London Borough of Sutton. It has been Listed building#Englan ...

. Parts of Cheam Park and Cheam Village are in a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

. Cheam is bordered by

Worcester Park Worcester Park is a suburban town in South London, England. It lies in the London boroughs of Sutton and Kingston, and partly in the Surrey borough of Epsom and Ewell. The area is southwest of Charing Cross. The suburb's population was 16,031 ...

to the northwest,

Morden Morden is a district and town in South London, England, now within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton, Londo ...

to the northeast,

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

to the east,

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a town in Surrey, England, south of Centre of London, central London and northeast of Epsom. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 34,872. The majority (73%) was in the NRS social grade, ABC1 ...

and Stoneleigh to the west and

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, London, Sutton, south-west of Croydon, north of Reigate, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Dow ...

and Belmont to the south.

History

The Roman road of Stane Street forms part of the boundary of Cheam. The modern London Road at North Cheam follows the course of the Roman road through the area. It is designated

A24 A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan. The company ...

. The village lay within the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

administrative division of Wallington hundred. Cheam is mentioned in the Charters of

Chertsey Abbey Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey. It was founded in 666 AD by Saint Erkenwald who was the first abbot, and from 675 AD the Bishop of London. At the same ti ...

in 727, which mentions Cheam being given to the monastery of Chertsey in 675; the name appears as ''Cegeham''. However, the Charters are of dubious origin and are now regarded as obvious fabrications. The name 'Cheam', based on ''Cegeham'', may mean 'village or homestead by the tree-stumps'. Domesday Croydon Cheam

Cheam appears in

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Ceiham''. Held by

Archbishop Lanfranc Lanfranc, OSB (1005 1010 – 24 May 1089) was an Italian-born English churchman, monk and scholar. Born in Italy, he moved to Normandy to become a Benedictine monk at Bec. He served successively as prior of Bec Abbey and abbot of St Ste ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, its Domesday assets were four hides, one church, 17

plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...

s, of

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

, and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

worth 25 hogs. It rendered £14. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Cheam had potteries, and recent excavations have been carried out by archaeologists. In 1259,

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

made Cheam a town by charter. In 1538, part of Cheam was handed over to

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. The same year, Henry began work on

Nonsuch Palace Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor architecture, Tudor royal family, royal palace, commissioned by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII in Surrey, England, and on which work began in 1538. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundary of the ...

, which he decorated elaborately. This was later sold and demolished. In 1801, the time of the first census, Cheam had a population of 616 Cheamonians. Cheam was the original home of

Cheam School Cheam School is a mixed preparatory school located in Headley, in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley in Hampshire. Originally a boys school, Cheam was founded in 1645 by George Aldrich. History The school started in Cheam, Surre ...

which was formed in Whitehall in 1645 and later occupied Tabor Court from 1719 until 1934 when the school moved to Berkshire.

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

attended the school in the years immediately preceding its move.

Cheam Charter Fair

Every year on 15 May the Cheam Charter Fair is held. It is thought to date back to 1259 when Henry III granted Cheam a charter, making it a town. Firm historical records of Cheam Charter Fair date back to the 1800s when a fairground accompanied the market.

Cheam Village

Cheam Village is centred on the crossroads between Sutton, North Cheam, South Cheam and Ewell. It has a

and a number of historic buildings dating back several centuries, including Nonsuch Mansion, the gabled Whitehall and Lumley Chapel, and a Georgian former rectory. The Cheam Village Conservation Area was designated in 1970 – it covers historic parkland, housing of varying styles and age and a mock Tudor shopping area with timber detailing and leaded-lights. The entrances to Cheam Park and

with its historic mansion are approximately two hundred yards from the village centre crossroads.

North Cheam

North Cheam is centred north, at the crossroads between Cheam Village and Worcester Park, Epsom and Morden. Victoria Junction is the centre of North Cheam. The area consists of a large Sainsbury's supermarket with adjoining

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

, a neighbouring park, a number of independent shops and restaurants, a 24-hour

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

drive-thru, a post office and a

Costa Coffee Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England, that operates in the United Kingdom and 37 other countries. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa (co ...

. There are plans to redevelop the site of a vacant 1960s building at the North Cheam crossroad and expand commercial and residential buildings. St. Anthony's Hospital is a large private hospital in North Cheam.

Places of note

Whitehall

Whitehall is a

timber framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...

and

weatherboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of those terms, is wooden siding (construction), siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Cla ...

ed house in the centre of Cheam Village. It was originally built in about 1500 as a

wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite material, composite building method in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called "wattle (construction), wattle" is "daubed" with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, and ...

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...

farmer's house but has been much extended. The external weatherboard dates from the 18th century. In the garden there is a medieval

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

which served an earlier building on the site. Now an

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

, the building features a period kitchen, and house details from the Georgian, Victorian and

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

eras. The museum temporarily closed in 2016 to allow for a £1.6m refurbishment of the building. It reopened in June 2018 with improved facilities.

Cheam War Memorial

Close to Cheam Library and the much-rebuilt Church, the memorial is to the people of Cheam who were killed during World War I, World War II and the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

. There are a number of inscriptions on the structure, including one at the 12 O'Clock Face which reads: It was designated a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

in December 2016.

The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory is a large part timber-framed house, built in the Tudor period, but extended and remodelled in the 18th century. It is occasionally open to the public.

The Old Cottage

The Old Cottage was built in the late 15th or early 16th century. Initially built as a cottage, it became a small

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

in the 18th century. It originally stood in the Broadway (then Malden Road) near the junction with Ewell Road. Under threat of demolition when the road was widened in 1922, it was saved by the local council, working with a local architect and historian. The building was dismantled by removing the original wooden pins from the timber frame. The parts were then moved to the present site one hundred yards down the road and reassembled. The Old Cottage features a local historical plaque, and was used as a bridalwear shop before becoming a woolshop in 2022.

The Old Farmhouse

A large timber-framed and weatherboarded

farmer's house, forming part of the Cheam Conservation Area with St Dunstan's Church, Whitehall, The Old Rectory and the Lumley Chapel, the Old Farmhouse has a crown post roof and large Tudor axial chimney stack in the centre with large fireplaces. The earliest part of the house is 15th century, with several building stages extending the house in the 16th and 17th centuries, creating a Baffle House design popular in the 17th century. Many original features remain including oak doors and hinges,

window shutter A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails (top, centre and bottom). Set within this frame can be louvers (both operable or fixed, horizontal or vertical), solid ...

s and fireplaces. Much of the timber framing is exposed throughout the house. Recent excavation and ground imaging uncovered a large Tudor kitchen underneath the house with a Tudor hearth and hood visible. Access to the cellar kitchen was by a staircase going north to south, which is now under the floor of the current kitchen. A file of text and images relating to the house is available in the Conservation Archive in Sutton Library.

Nonsuch Mansion

Nonsuch Mansion is a Grade II listed

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

mansion within Nonsuch Park. The Service Wing Museum is open to the public during the summer on Sundays. It is run by the Friends of Nonsuch, which charitable organisation also commissioned the largest model of Nonsuch Palace available. The model was created by designer Ben Taggart and can be seen throughout the year on Sundays. The mansion itself is a popular place for wedding receptions, as it is available for hire. In

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times the land upon which Nonsuch Mansion sits was part of the three thousand

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

manor of Cuddington. The mansion was originally built in 1731–1743 by Joseph Thompson and later bought by Samuel Farmer in 1799. He employed Jeffry Wyattville to rebuild it in a Tudor Gothic style in 1802–1806. Farmer was succeeded by his grandson in 1838 under whom the gardens became famous. Nonsuch Mansion bears a resemblance to the original design of

, whose construction was begun by King Henry VIII in the 16th century. Built within the north porch of the mansion is a block from the original Nonsuch Palace that bears an inscription which means "1543 Henry VIII in the 35th year of His reign."

Places of worship

St Dunstan's Church is the area's

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, situated in Cheam Village, next to Lumley Chapel. St Paul's Howell Hill is on Northey Avenue at the far west of the town, although it is actually in the borough of Epsom and Ewell. It is known locally due to its prominent presence on a roundabout and its contemporary design. Towards the eastern end of Northey Avenue is St Andrew's United Reformed Church, a grade II listed building designed by

Maxwell Ayrton Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (1874 – 18 February 1960), known as Maxwell Ayrton, was an England, English architect. He spent most of his adult life working in London and designed houses, public buildings, ...

in 1933. Cheam Baptist Church, founded by

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31st January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." ...

in 1862, is located next to St Dunstan's Church. Cheam Methodist Church is in the east of the town just off the A217 and is also home to Sutton Schoolswork, the local Christian schools charity working in the borough of Sutton.

St Dunstan's Church

The parish church of St. Dunstan is Grade II* listed. It was built in Cheam Village in 1864 next to Lumley Chapel on the site of a medieval church. It was built with Kentish ragstone below pitched slate roofs, with dressings to windows and doors in

Bath Stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

. It was designed by F. H. Pownall in the

architectural style, and features polychrome brickwork decoration internally. The

lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

, dated 1891, at the entrance to the churchyard, is listed Grade II. In the churchyard are three tombs which are Grade II listed. The graveyard attached to this church was twice subject to a archaeological excavation by the police, first between June and September 2012, and again from April 2013. This excavation was conducted in order to uncover evidence in the investigation into the unsolved disappearance of Lee Boxell, a fifteen-year-old local schoolboy, in 1988. The church was home to an informal youth club in the 1980s, known as 'The Shed'.

Lumley Chapel

Situated next to St Dunstan's Church, Lumley Chapel is the oldest standing building in the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is an Outer London London boroughs, borough in south London, England. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to the east, ...

, and contains many notable monuments to local families. Following the construction of the new St Dunstan's church in 1864, the older church on the site was demolished, other than the east end of the chancel, which was retained to contain the monuments and brasses from the old church. This remnant of the former church is now known as the Lumley Chapel. It is constructed in partly

roughcast Roughcast and pebbledash are durable coarse plaster surfaces used on outside walls. They consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then throw ...

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

stone and brick, and has a gabled tile roof. The east window dates from the 15th century and has three lights. In the south wall is the blocked arcade that formerly led into the south chapel. The remnant was declared " redundant" in 2002, and

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property are acquired by some Legal person, person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vest ...

in the Churches Conservation Trust. It has been designated by

as a Grade II*

, and is under the care of a national charity, the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

Demography

38.2% of homes in Cheam are detached houses, 23% are semi-detached, 20.6% are flats/maisonettes/apartments, and 18.6% are terraced.

Schools

There are a number of schools in Cheam, including

Nonsuch High School Nonsuch High School is an all-girls' grammar school with an Academy (English school), academy status, located in Cheam, in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, on the border of the London Borough of Sutton, and standing in of gro ...

, a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

for girls and Cheam High School, a large mixed comprehensive school on Chatsworth Road. Primary schools include Cuddington Croft, St Cecilias Catholic Primary School, Cheam Fields Primary, Cheam Common Primary, Cheam Park Farm Nursery and Infants School, Cheam Park Farm Juniors, Nonsuch Primary and St. Dunstans Church of England Primary.

Transport

Cheam is served by Cheam station on the Sutton and Mole Valley lines between

and

. It is in Travelcard Zone 5. Services from Cheam to central London include direct trains to Victoria which take about 30 minutes. In 1910, parliamentary approval was given to the Wimbledon and Sutton Railway to construct a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

at Cheam Road, Sutton that would have been served by the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London, England, from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the ...

. Following negotiations between the

Underground Electric Railways Company of London The Underground Electric Railways Company of London, Limited (UERL), known operationally as the Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an un ...

and the Southern Railway, the line was eventually opened in 1930 by the Southern Railway, though the station was replaced by West Sutton to its north. In 1946, a report on London's railways to the Ministry of War Transport detailed possible new routes and rail lines for the London Underground, including the

Victoria line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in South London, and in the east, via the West End of London, West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run comp ...

and a route that would serve similar stations to

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

. The same report recommended extending the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

to North Cheam, contingent on doubling the tracks between

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

and Tooting Broadway such that

trains would terminate at Tooting Broadway, and with an intermediate station at Morden South. Both proposals would each have cost £1,500,000. The proposed site for North Cheam station would have occupied the site of what was then a

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

cinema on London Road in

North Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to t ...

, which was opened in 1937 and closed in 1969; one half was demolished to make way for a community centre car park, and the other half of which is now a

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim ...

pub. However, as no detailed planning and application was made for permission to construct the extension — by the report's own admission, "the period required for construction, under the most favourable conditions, would not be less than 30 years" — the extension to North Cheam did not take place. Cheam and North Cheam are served by bus routes including services 213 (Sutton to Kingston), 151 (Wallington to Worcester Park), 93 (North Cheam to Putney Bridge) and the SL7 service between Heathrow Airport and Croydon.

Sport and recreation

Cheam is mainly built up, but retains Cheam Park and Nonsuch Park. Nonsuch Park is home to a historic building,

which contains a cafe and extensive flower gardens. Nonsuch also extends into Stoneleigh and East Ewell. Cheam Park contains tennis courts, football pitches and a children's playground. A cafe can be found in the middle of the park. Cheam Leisure Centre, on Malden Road, has facilities including a swimming pool (30m x 12m), squash courts and fitness gym. Cheam Rovers F.C. is a local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club. Cheam Cricket Club play at Peaches Close. Cheam Hockey Club is a

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

club that competes in the London Hockey League.

Cheam in popular culture

In the comedy show ''

Hancock's Half Hour ''Hancock's Half Hour'' was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy series, broadcast from 1954 to 1961 and written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The radio series starred Tony Hancock, with Sidney James, Bill Kerr and,at various ...

'',

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series '' Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

lived in the fictional road Railway Cuttings, in East Cheam. Though not in existence today, East Cheam did exist officially in name and was not fictional. The census of 1841 includes the place-names East Cheam, North Cheam, Garden Green and Cheam Common. Cheam is referred to in a rhyme dating back to the 18th century, and revised in the Victorian era to: "

for good mutton;
Cheam for juicy beef;

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

for a pretty girl
And

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ...

for a thief." St. Dunstan's Church was used in an episode of the TV comedy '' The I.T. Crowd'', Series 2 ("Return of the Golden Child"). Scenes from an episode of ''

Made in Chelsea ''Made in Chelsea'' (abbreviated ''MIC'') is a British Scripted reality, structured-reality television series broadcast by E4 (TV channel), E4. ''Made in Chelsea'' chronicles the lives of affluent young people in the West London and South West a ...

'' were filmed in Nonsuch Mansion.

Disappearance of Lee Boxell

Lee Boxell, a 15-year-old schoolboy, disappeared near his home in Cheam on 10 September 1988. He was last seen outside of the then-

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

supermarket (now an

ASDA Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

store) at 2:20 pm. The case remains unsolved. It was featured in the national press and on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV's ''

Crimewatch ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was or ...

''.

Notable people

* James Blades (1901–1999) orchestral percussionist, lived in Cheam. * Jane Dee, Elizabethan

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

and wife of occultist

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...

, was born in Cheam. *

(1924–1968), comedian, lived in and set his sketches in Cheam *

Paul Greengrass Paul Greengrass (born 13 August 1955) is an English film director, film producer, screenwriter and former journalist. One of his early films, '' Bloody Sunday'' (2002), won the Golden Bear at 52nd Berlin International Film Festival. Other f ...

(born 1955), film director, was born in Cheam. *

James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) was a British racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Shunt", Hunt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and wo ...

(1947–1993), Formula One racing driver, lived in Cheam as a child and attended Ambleside School. * Peter Manley (born 1962), darts player, was born in Cheam. * Jimmy Mann (born 1978), darts player, lives in Cheam and attended Cheam Fields primary school * Joanna Rowsell (born 1988), Olympic cycling gold medallist, attended Cuddington-Croft Primary School and Nonsuch High School for Girls. * Alex Sawyer (born 1993), actor, lived in Cheam and attended The Avenue School. *

Harry Secombe Sir Harry Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, mos ...

(1921–2001), comedian, lived in Cheam. *

Alec Stewart Alec James Stewart (born 8 April 1963) is an English former cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is the fifth-most- capped En ...

(born 1963), (ex-England cricketer) lived in Cheam. *

Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio presenter and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guests, consumer issues and popu ...

(born 1965) (presenter) and his brother

Tim Vine Timothy Mark Vine (born 4 March 1967) is an English comedian, actor, writer and presenter best known for his puns and other one-liners and his role on the TV sitcom '' Not Going Out'' (2006–2012, 2014). He has also released a number of stand- ...

(born 1967) (comedian) were born in Cheam. * Carrie Quinlan, actress, lived in Cheam and attended Nonsuch High School for Girls. *

Suzannah Lipscomb Suzannah Rebecca Gabriella Lipscomb (born 7 December 1978)
, Library of Congress Name Authority File is a Britis ...

(born 1978), historian, lived in Cheam and attended Nonsuch High School for Girls.Not Just the Tudors podcast by History Hit; Episode – Sister Queens: Mary II and Anne 29:56–30:14
Retrieved 20 June 2022.

Nearby places

References

External links

David McKie in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, 30 November 2006. {{Authority control Districts of the London Borough of Sutton District centres of London