Nonsuch Park, Surrey
Historical Description
Nonsuch Park, a seat in Cheam parish, Surrey, between the two Epsom lines of the S.W.R., under Banstead Downs, 2½ miles NE of Epsom. It is a modern castellated edifice, was originally built after designs by Wyattville, and has been much altered and enlarged. A palace of the same name stood within the park, at an angle between the avenue and a footpath toward Ewell; wasfounded by Henry VIII.; was given in an incompleted state by Elizabeth to the Earl of Arundel; was completed by that Earl; reverted to Elizabeth, and was frequently occupied by her in the latter part of her reign; was the seat of Queen Anne of Denmark and of Queen Henrietta Maria; was occupied in the time of the Commonwealth by General Lambert and Colonel Pride, the latter of whom died in it; was given by Charles II. to Lady Castlemaine with the title of Baroness; and was taken down and the materials of it sold by Lady Castlemaine after she became Duchess of Cleveland. The palace included an outer court 150 feet by 132, and an inner court 137 feet by 116; and it was garnished with a series of bas-reliefs of subjects from the heathen mythology inserted between the timbers of the outside walls. The park contains some fine forest trees.
Church Records
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Surrey History Centre, have images of the Parish Registers for Surrey online.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Surrey is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Nonsuch Park are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)