Cheam

Cheam’s roots can be located as far back as 1018 when Chertsey Abbey owned the area. In the Middle Ages the Bishop was holding Cheam to cater for the monks and this is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Apparently, Cheam was known for its potteries. Part of Cheam was handed over to Henry VIII in 1538 and in the same year he began work on Nonsuch Palace which was decorated elaborately. Nonsuch Palace was later sold and demolished. At the time of the first census in 1801 Cheam only had a population on 616.

Lumley Chapel is old building within the borough with early Normal or late Saxon fragments. The Manor or Cheam was acquired in 1018 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the church that was dedicated to St Dunstan, came soon after. Lord Lumley converted the building into a memorial chapel for himself and his two wives in the 1580s.

The ceiling was rebuilt in 1592 and the commissioned tombs still remain along with other memorials and brasses to this day. Lord Lumley had a superior collection on books and these were purchase by James I and became part of the Royal Library which is now part of the British Library. A larger church was built and the original one was demolished in 1864 the chapel was retained. The Churches Conservation Trust took over care of the building when is was passed over to them in 2002.