Weather-boarded cottages, Malden Road, Cheam

Image: © Stefan Czapski Taken: 13 Oct 2012

There are many local centres in London's Surrey suburbs - like Surbiton and Raynes Park - which owe their existence entirely to the coming of the railway. Cheam goes back much further, and is one of the relatively few places in the area where you get an impression of a village-scape from before the railway era. The most striking survival has got to be Whitehall, a timber-framed house dating from about 1500. But just north of it in the Malden Road stand these weather-boarded cottages. The row of cottages further from the camera certainly looks pre-1850 (listing text: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-206751-5-9-malden-road-greater-london-authority ) but the nearer building - known as Nonsuch Cottage - looks a good deal older, and the listing text confirms a 17th century date: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-206749-nonsuch-cottage-greater-london-authority

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0