Chessington is an area in the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...

within Greater London. Historically part of Surrey, today it is the largest salient of Greater London into that county. At the 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. The Bonesgate Stream, a tributary of the

Hogsmill River The Hogsmill River in Surrey and Greater London, England is a small chalk stream tributary of the River Thames. It rises in Ewell and flows into the Thames at Kingston upon Thames on the lowest non-tidal reach, that above Teddington Lock. The ...

, runs through it. The popular theme park resort Chessington World of Adventures, which incorporates Chessington Zoo, is located in the south-west of the area. Neighbouring settlements include

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wood, ...

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a suburban area with a village centre in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, approximately south of central London and northeast of Epsom. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of wh ...

, Surbiton,

Claygate Claygate is an affluent suburban village in Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It is the only civil parish in the borough of Elmbridge. Surrounded by green belt, it lies inside the Greater London Built-up Area. Claygate was once in t ...

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

Oxshott Oxshott is a suburban village in the borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England. Oxshott includes hilly acidic heath which is partly wooded (see Esher Commons and Prince's Coverts) and occupies the land between the large towns of Esher and Leatherhead ...

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up ...

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

and

Worcester Park Worcester Park is a suburban town in South West London, England. It lies in the London boroughs of Sutton and Kingston, and partly in the Surrey borough of Epsom and Ewell. The area is southwest of Charing Cross. The suburb's population was ...

History

Its name came from Anglo-Saxon ''Cissan dūn'' = "hill belonging to man namedCissa". Chessington appears in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

as ''Cisedune'' and ''Cisendone''. It was held partly by Robert de Wateville and partly by Milo (Miles) Crispin. Its Domesday assets were: 1½ hides; part of a

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

worth 2s, 4 ploughs,

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

worth 30 hogs. It rendered £7. The mansion at Chessington World of Adventures, known today as the

Burnt Stub Burned or burnt may refer to: * Anything which has undergone combustion * Burned (image), quality of an image transformed with loss of detail in all portions lighter than some limit, and/or those darker than some limit * ''Burnt'' (film), a 2015 ...

, was originally built in 1348. In the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

it became a royalist stronghold and was razed to the ground by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

's Parliamentary forces, giving it its modern name. The site became an inn and was then rebuilt on a grander scale from the 18th century by the Vere Barker family in a Neo-Gothic Victorian style. The grounds were turned into a zoo in 1931 by Reginald Goddard. Chessington Zoo became part of the

Tussauds Group The Tussauds Group was an entertainment company which is now a part of Merlin Entertainments. It was based in Poole, Dorset from where it managed a portfolio of brands and over 50 attractions that included the Madame Tussauds waxworks, Legoland ...

in 1978 and is now operated as a

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

. Burnt Stub had no public access until 2003 when it became an attraction called

Hocus Pocus Hall ''Hocus Pocus Hall'' was a gothic-themed house of mirrors at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in southwest London, England. Originally the site of several mansions dating back to 1348, ''Burnt Stub Mansion'' was a private feature for y ...

. Map of Chessington in the 1880s Chessington Hall has a place in 18th-century literary history, as home of Samuel Crisp, a failed playwright and close friend of

Fanny Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...

. Chessington Road Recreation Ground was purchased on 16 October 1930 for £1,000. At 207 Hook Road is a Blue plaque commemorating the author

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...

who lived at the address between 1920 and 1924. The former farmhouse Barwell Court (on Barwell Lane) was used as a recording and residential studio during the 1970s through to the 1990s. The former

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Chessington Hospital, demolished in the 1990s, first opened as RAF Hook around 1938 as a regional barrage balloon depot and was operated by RAF Balloon Command. It became a vital part of Britain's defence against the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

in World War II and originally featured a number of large barrage balloon sheds as well as extensive garages and workshops for the station's support vehicles.

Notable residents

, author of ''Noddy'', the ''Secret Seven'' and the ''Famous Five'', lived at 207, Hook Road. *

Sir Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a Ro ...

, Australian Formula 1 World Champion owned a house which he sometimes lived in, opposite the garage he owned. * Jan Brittin, England cricketer * Helen Chamberlain, TV presenter *

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

, singer from the 1960s *

George Cohen George Reginald Cohen (22 October 1939 – 23 December 2022) was an English professional footballer who played as a right-back. He spent his entire professional career with Fulham, and won the 1966 World Cup with England. He was inducted int ...

, member of the 1966 England World Cup-winning team. * Jimmy Conway, Fulham & Republic of Ireland footballer, lived on Leatherhead Road, until 1976. * Samuel Crisp, dramatist in the 1700s, lived in Chessington Hall. *

Chris Garland Christopher Garland (born 24 April 1949) is an English former footballer who played in all four divisions of the Football League. He was capped once by England at under-23 level. A forward, he began his professional career with local club Bri ...

, Chelsea footballer, for a few years in early 1970s. *

Sir Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part of t ...

lived at Barwell Court for two years in the late 1970s along with members of his band

The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock music, rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hit record, hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Repub ...

and TV presenter girlfriend

Paula Yates Paula Elizabeth Yates (24 April 1959 – 17 September 2000) was a British television presenter and writer. Yates is best known for her work on two television programmes, '' The Tube'' and ''The Big Breakfast''. She was the girlfriend of musicia ...

. Previous occupants of the house were the progressive rock bands

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

(who wrote their album ''

Selling England by the Pound ''Selling England by the Pound'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis, released in September 1973 on Charisma Records. It reached in the United Kingdom and in the United States. A single from the album, " I ...

'' whilst staying there in 1973),

Van Der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success i ...

and

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

. A subsequent inhabitant and manager of Barwell Court was bass guitarist

John Giblin John Giblin, is an active session musician, contributing mainly as an acoustic and electric bass player, and spanning genres of jazz, classical, rock, folk and avant-garde music. Best known as a studio musician, recording film scores and cont ...

(also known for his work with Simple Minds,

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

and others). *

Harry Hawker Harry George Hawker, MBE, AFC (22 January 1889 – 12 July 1921) was an Australian aviation pioneer. He was the chief test pilot for Sopwith and was also involved in the design of many of their aircraft. After the First World War, he co-fo ...

, well known engineer, test pilot and racing driver, lived in Hook until 1921. *

Kelly Reilly Jessica Kelly Siobhán Reilly (born 18 July 1977) is an English actress. She first appeared on screen in 1995 on the series '' The Biz''. Her other television work includes starring roles in the British crime drama '' Above Suspicion'' (2009– ...

, actress, in US TV series

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

Errol Brown Lester Errol Brown MBE (12 November 1943 – 6 May 2015) was a British-Jamaican singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. In 2004, Brown received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contributi ...

, singer in

Hot Chocolate Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate ...

Tim Smith Tim, Timothy or Timmy Smith may refer to: Musicians * T. V. Smith (born 1956), British singer and songwriter *Tim Smith (Cardiacs) (1961–2020), English singer-songwriter and frontman of Cardiacs *Timmy Trumpet (born 1982), Australian DJ and prod ...

and Jim Smith (respectively singer/guitarist/composer and bass guitarist/backing singer in Cardiacs) grew up in Chessington. *

Paul Darrow Paul Darrow (born Paul Valentine Birkby; 2 May 1941 – 3 June 2019) was an English actor. He became best known for playing Kerr Avon in the BBC science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'' between 1978 and 1981. His many television rol ...

, actor,

Kerr Avon This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recrea ...

from Blakes 7. Born in Chessington

Economy

Sega Amusements Europe has its head office in Chessington. The Chessington Industrial Estate is located on Lion Park Avenue.

Attractions

Chessington houses one of the Europe's leading theme park resorts Chessington World of Adventures. This includes a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

, a

, an aquarium and two four star hotels – the Safari Hotel and Azteca Hotel. In the grounds of the resort lies the historic

Burnt Stub Mansion Burned or burnt may refer to: * Anything which has undergone combustion * Burned (image), quality of an image transformed with loss of detail in all portions lighter than some limit, and/or those darker than some limit * ''Burnt'' (film), a 2015 ...

. Chessington Garden Centre is located in the south of the area near Malden Rushett. Chessington offers a range of countryside activities with many open spaces including the "Chessington Countryside Walk" in the

London Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

. Chessington Wood, in the south of the area, contains the source of the Bonesgate Stream, a tributary of the

, in turn a tributary of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Locality

The areas of Chessington have these names: * Chessington North, also referred to as North Parade, immediately adjacent to

Chessington North railway station Chessington North railway station, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in South West London, is on the Chessington branch line and is served by South Western Railway. The station serves Hook as well as the northern part of Chessingto ...

. *

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

, generally referred to as the central point in Chessington, although historically considered a separate entity. It incorporates the majority of bus routes which pass through the area. * Copt Gilders, named after the farm which was once in this area. * Chessington South, previously called Fleetwood, incorporating the majority of buildings south of

Chessington School Chessington School (Chessington Community College until September 2018) is a co-educational secondary school with a sports centre, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. The current building was opened in September 2009. ...

and

Chessington South railway station Chessington South railway station is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, England, and is the terminus of the Chessington Branch Line. It is served by South Western Railway, and is down the line from , in Travelcar ...

. * Southborough is close to the A3 and nearby Surbiton and

. * The Ace of Spades, the area surrounding the roundabout linking Hook Road with the A3/Kingston Bypass. Chessington World of Adventures (branded, is often referred to simply as "Chessington"), a

and

with a broader appeal. Within the park there is the Burnt Stub Mansion from the

. Also one of the main employers in the area. Churches include: St Paul's C of E, Hook Road, in the Diocese of Southwark; St Mary's C of E, Church Lane, in the Diocese of Guildford; Chessington Methodist Church, Moor Lane, in the Kingston circuit; St. Catherine of Siena RC, Leatherhead Road, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark; and Chessington Evangelical Church, the King's Centre, Coppard Gardens. The town is served by the '' Surrey Comet'' newspaper, as well as the free paper '' Kingston Guardian''.

Sport

Within the town there are various sporting organisations including: Non League football clubs Chessington & Hook United F.C. and Epsom Athletic F.C., who both play football in the

Combined Counties League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

; and Kingston RFC based on the Hook Road. Kingston RFC play in Surrey division 2 union league. Chessington also is home to Chessington

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

Club, founded in 1919, play on the Sir Francis Barker recreation ground on Leatherhead Road, the 1st XI currently play in Division 1 of The

Surrey Championship The Surrey Championship is a cricket organisation in Surrey running 6 divisions for 1st & 2nd XI cricket, 4 for 3rd XI and 4 for 4th XI. Since 2000 it has been a designated ECB Premier League. The teams competing in the Premier Division in 2020 w ...

. On site with Chessington School is Chessington Sports Centre. The sports centre is home to many local sports clubs such as The

Kingston Wildcats Kingston Wildcats School of Basketball is a community basketball development club originating from Kingston upon Thames, Kingston that compete in the Surrey League and Basketball England National League. The club acts as "school of basketball" ...

(2nd and youth teams), Genesis Gymnastics Club, Chessington Badminton Club and many others. The Sports Centre has a multi use sports hall, a fully equipped fitness suite and Kingston's only Climbing Wall, Chessington Rocks. The former

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racing team Brabham had their factory in Chessington. The site is now occupied by the

Carlin DPR David Price Racing (commonly referred to as DPR) is a British motor racing team, founded by David Price. The team competed in various forms of motorsport from their foundation in 1976 until 2008. The team was sold in April 2009, but continued ...

GP2 team.

Local geography

Education

The main secondary school in Chessington is a mixed public school called

, but nearby secondary schools on the northern border of Chessington are the boys' school

Southborough High School Southborough High School, commonly known as ''Southborough'', is a boys secondary School with a mixed sixth form. Founded in 1962, it has academy status and is in Surbiton, Greater London. It was rated a grade 2 school (Good) in 2017 by Ofste ...

in Surbiton and

Tolworth Girls' School and Centre for Continuing Education Tolworth Girls' School is a secondary school and sixth form for girls aged 11–18 in Surbiton, London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames. The school currently has 1035 girls on roll and just under 290 students in the mix ...

in Tolworth. There are also many primary schools, e.g., Ellingham Primary School.

Transport

There are trains, busses and taxis.

Rail

File:Chessington North station - geograph.org.uk - 42265.jpg,

Chessington has two railway stations: Chessington North railway station, Chessington North and Chessington South railway station, Chessington South. They are half a mile apart with South Western Railway (train operating company), South Western Railway services every half-hour to London Waterloo railway station, London Waterloo. Chessington South is the end of the line. The line was originally intended to split at

Motspur Park Motspur Park, also known locally as West Barnes, is a residential suburb in south-west London, in the New Malden district. It straddles the boroughs of Kingston upon Thames and Merton. Motspur Park owes its identity to the railway station of ...

, pass through Chessington and proceed on to

, but construction was halted at Chessington South in 1940 as

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

began, and it was then the

Green Belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ...

with

Ashtead Common Ashtead Common, nearly 495 acres (c. 200 ha), is a wooded area open to the public, to the north of the village of Ashtead in Surrey, England. It is owned and managed by the City of London Corporation, after being bought by the City due to conc ...

's 200+ year protection order that stopped it from continuing. The line past Chessington South has fallen into heavy disrepair and leads over a concrete bridge into a patch of full-grown trees. The crossover, signal, and rail electricity at this point are still active, even though a passenger train has never passed over this section.

Roads

Chessington is about four miles (6 km) from junction 9 of the M25 motorway. The town is situated on the A243 Leatherhead Road, close to the A3 London-to-

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

trunk route to the north. The un-numbered Bridge Road runs through the area from the A243 toward the adjacent district of West Ewell, in the neighbouring borough of

Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was ...

(the boundary being marked crossing the course of the Bonesgate Stream).

Buses

The Chessington area is served by a number of daily bus services, such as routes 71,

465 __NOTOC__ Year 465 (Roman numerals, CDLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hermenericus and Basiliscus (or, less freq ...

467 __NOTOC__ Year 467 ( CDLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 467th Year of the Common Era ( CE) and Anno Domini ( AD) designations, the 467th year of the 1st millennium, ...

, night route 65 and local routes K2 and K4. It is also served by the school service 671.

References

External links

Local Neighbourhood Information for Chessington & Hook

Chessington Table Tennis Club

St. Paul's C of E Church, Hook Road, Chessington, KT9 1EF

Chessington Methodist Church, Moor Lane, Chessington, KT9 2DJ

St. Catherine of Siena RC Church, 100 Leatherhead Road, Chessington, KT9 2HY

Chessington Evangelical Church, the King's Centre, Coppard Gardens, Chessington

St. Mary's C of E Church, Garrison Lane, Chessington, KT9 2LB
{{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames