CHEAM, a parish in the second division of the
hundred of WALLINGTON, county of SURREY, l mile
(N. E. by E.) from Ewell, containing 792 inhabitants.
The living is a rectory, in the exempt deanery of Croydon,
which is within the peculiar jurisdiction of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, rated in the king's books
at £17. 5. 5., and in the patronage of the President and
Fellows of St. John's College, Oxford. The church,
dedicated to St. Dunstan, is a small structure built of
flint; the chancel contains some monuments to the Lumley
family, who were anciently lords of the manor, and
one of whom sold his collection of books to James I.,
which laid the foundation of the royal library now in the
British Museum. It is remarkable, that of six successive
rectors between 1581 andl662,fivebecamebishops,namely,
Watson, Andrews, Mountain, Senhouse, and Hackett.
About half a mile south-west from the village was
situated the magnificent palace called Nonsuch, begun
by Henry VIII., and finished by Henry, Earl of Arundel,
which was Queen Elizabeth's favourite seat, and kept
up as a royal residence till the execution of Charles I.,
when it came into the possession of Algernon Sidney,
and at the Restoration was granted to the Duchess of
Cleveland, who pulled down the house and disparked the
land. There is a vein of fine clay, useful for making
moulds for casting metals and for tobacco pipes.