More about the Cheam Park

Cheam Park originated as the grounds of Cheam Park House, which dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. The estate was considerably enlarged in 1820 by London tea merchant, Archdale Palmer. His daughter married a Mr Wickham who then came to live there. The house was subsequently let to a succession of tenants before being bought by a Mrs Bethel. She died in 1937 and the park was subsequently bought by the local authority. In 1939-40 the house was used for assembling gas masks, and also served as a First Aid station and Warden’s Post. In 1944 the house was severely damaged by a flying bomb which landed in the park. It was subsequently demolished. The 19th century entrance lodge still survives on the Cheam Village side of the park. The original drive is now a tarmac path which runs uphill and curves round in front of the house site which is still marked by a slight platform. The brick walls beyond the house site originally enclosed the kitchen garden which is now a parks depot. If you walk down the slope from the house site towards Cheam Road a shallow gully can be seen curving across the grass. This is the remains of the ha-ha which separated the garden from the park to the north. Many of the larger trees in the park date from the time of the 19th century but the garden bedding around the house has gone.