Description
A church in Cheam was recorded in the Domesday Book and probably dates from the early C11th, dedicated to St Dunstan. The old church was demolished in the 1860s and a new church built next to the Lumley Chapel, which was the chancel of the medieval church that had been converted as a memorial chapel for the Lumley family in the late C16th. St Dunstan's Church and Lumley Chapel stand in a well tended churchyard with mature cedars and yews. There are a number of historic tombs and a war memorial with an Arts and Crafts lych-gate of 1891 at the entrance.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Cheam Parish Church |
|---|---|
| Site location | Malden Road, Cheam |
| Postcode | SM3 8QH |
| What3Words | ///smiled.helps.torch |
| Type of Site | Churchyard |
| Borough | Sutton |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Rail Cheam. Bus: 151, 213, 726. |
| Research Updated | 1 November 2004 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The Archbishop of Canterbury acquired Cheam in 1018 and the church is likely to date from soon after this. It is dedicated to St Dunstan who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 959 - 988AD, later displaced by St Thomas à Becket. The current church was built by T H Pownall in 1864 in French Gothic style, and it stands next to the Lumley Chapel, which was the chancel remaining from the medieval parish church. John, Lord Lumley had converted it into a memorial chapel for himself and his 2 wives in the 1590s. He had inherited Nonsuch Palace in 1580 through his first wife Jane, who was daughter and co-heiress of the Earl of Arundel. Lumley developed the gardens at Nonsuch and he was an important connoisseur and collector of books and paintings.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ242638 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Church of England |
| Site Management | Church of England |
| Dates | Medieval; C19th |
| Listed Structures | LBII*: St Dunstan's Church; Lumley Chapel. LBII: Lych-gate; tombs: Christian & Henry Neale( d.1687), Fleetwood Dormer (d.1736), Daniel Sanxay (d.1739), William Farmer (c1815) |
| 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 | Sutton |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Cheam Village |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Adjacent to Cheam Library are the remains of the walled garden that once surrounded West Cheam Manor, which was demolished in c.1796. Part of a stable block remains to the north-east. Cheam remained rural until the 1920s but by the late 1930s was largely suburban. To the west of the library, which was built in 1962 on the site of the manor house, is the Memorial Garden and Cheam War Memorial, dedicated to the dead of both world wars. The garden is mainly laid to lawn, with paths and a number of flower beds.
Seear's Park was once part of Hammond's Orchard within East Cheam Manor estate. It was laid out as a park by John Seear between 1890-1912 and left to his wife and then to the local authority on her death in 1932. There remain some mature ornamental trees dating rom the C19th, including a monkey puzzle, redwoods and firs along the main road to the west, also some broken statuary and a pond from the same period. The drinking fountain was installed in 1932 as a memorial to the Seears. There is an attractive ornamental cottage in the north-east corner.
The 1st edition OS Map of 1867 shows the site as an open field of irregular shape. Formerly an area of substantial brick-works dating from the medieval/post medieval period, like Seear's Park to the south, Perretts Field was re-landscaped in the C20th and is now open land adjacent to Sutton Waterworks.