Inventory Site Record

Cheam Park and Cheam Recreation Ground are the former grounds of Cheam Park House. An C18th house built by Dr Edmund Sanxay, it was considerably enlarged in the early 1800s by London tea merchant Archdale Palmer. It was purchased by Mrs Bethell in 1920 and became known as Bethell House. After her death in 1937 the house and grounds were purchased by Sutton Council, for the benefit of the public in perpetuity. The house was demolished following bomb damage in WWII. The site is in two parts with Cheam Park the more formally planted and Cheam Recreation Ground to the north having a more open landscape.

Previous / Other name:

Cheam Park House; Bethell House

Site location:

Ewell Road/Tudor Close, Cheam

Postcode:

SM3 8AJ

What 3 Words:

fakes.event.safely

Type of site:

Public Park

Borough:

Sutton

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

8.00am - dusk

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Sports pitches, bowls, cricket field, children’s playground, tennis courts, cafés, toilets including disabled, car park

Events:

Public transport:

Rail: Cheam. Bus 151, 213, 470, X26.

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/03/2012

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.sutton.gov.uk

Sutton Council purchased Cheam Park House and its grounds on 20 March 1937 for £25,000. In 1939-30 it was used for assembling gas masks, and it became a First Aid Station and Warden’s Post. In 1944 the house was badly damaged by a flying bomb that landed in the park, and it was subsequently demolished. The C19th entrance lodge survives on the Cheam village side of the park, and the original drive is now a tarmac path running uphill and curving round in front of the site of the house, which is marked by a slight platform. Brick walls beyond this were formerly those of the old kitchen garden, which is now a parks depot. Down the slope from the site of the house towards Cheam Road is a shallow gully curving across the grass, which is the remains of the ha-ha that formerly separated the garden from the park to the north. Many of the larger trees in the park date from the C19th but the garden bedding around the house has gone. There are old oaks and yews, an overgrown pond and remains of earlier landscaping in the park.

The site adjoins Nonsuch Park (q.v.) and is separated into two parts, Cheam Park with more formal, ornamental planting to the south and Cheam Recreation Ground lying to the north with meadowland areas and flower beds.

Sources consulted:

LB Sutton archive, enclosure and tithe maps

Grid ref:

TQ239639 (523950,163932)

Size in hectares:

Park 12.01 / Recreation Grd 13

Site ownership:

LB Sutton

Site management:

Parks Service

Date(s):

1815; 1937

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

LBII: Lodge to Cheam Park in Cheam Park Lane

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Cheam Village

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes - Local Importance

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

Yes

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

Site of wild life value

Cheam Park - Photo: Colin Wing
Date taken: 20/08/06 08:03

Click a photo to enlarge.

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