The Secrets of Whitehall Historic House
This article was written by one of our Young Reporters, a scheme that gives 14 to 18-year-old school students a chance to write for a real newspaper. Find out more at the Young Reporter website.
The area of Cheam and the villages/towns around it has become a more modernised version of what it used to be. But one thing that hasn’t dramatically changed in nearly 500 years is Whitehall.
Built around 1500, Whitehall is a Tudor house in the centre of Cheam Village, predating Shakespeare. It is owned and managed by the London Borough of Sutton who opened it as a local museum in 1978.
It wasn’t built as house: Whitehall didn’t really fit with a house plan, and was probably used as a wool warehouse, and wool was a main part of the economy in the Tudor period.
Cheam used to be a very small village, far away from London. It was probably very wealthy as an area, since it had a large area of grassland which was regarded as first-class sheep pasture.
Although it wasn’t built as a house, it became one during the 16th century and wasn’t a very grand house. It was modified and extended over the centuries to make complex architecture.
It isn’t confirmed as to who first lived here, but there are clues as to the beliefs of the early occupiers. There is graffiti on a door in the attic with the word ‘Remember’, which were the last words of Charles I before his execution and a kite, which some think links to Oliver Cromwell.
The Killick family took over the house in 1742 and in the 19th century, its occupants were largely women, who took care of the building and what was in it, and the house survived to be bought by the council in 1963, who turned it into a museum, now open to the public and entry is free. The council have restored parts of the house like its garden to reflect a Tudor-period planting scheme, with herbs, flowers, and vegetables that would have been familiar to the original inhabitants of a sixteenth-century Surrey house.
Local conservation saved the structure from demolition, so visitors can touch the same walls and walk along the same floors Tudor merchants and families did. Whitehall continues to be a vital link to Cheam’s heritage, serving as a reminder that Central London isn’t the only place to find history – sometimes, it can be right on your high street.
