Chessington started twentieth century life as a small village and ended it clogged with carloads of screaming children heading for the World of Adventures theme park. Just north of
Leatherhead, the town marks the first or last point of the purgatorial sprawl separating London from the rural green of Surrey, depending on whether your idea of heaven is landscaped with bright lights or green fields.
The inter-war housing boom shaped Chessington into a popular spot for families, stretching the suburban spread of London ever further into the green spaces of Surrey. Few vestiges of the town's small village past survived the wide avenues laid down by the developers.
St Mary's church is about the oldest thing you'll find here, with its 13th Century structural work still largely intact. The church houses a 16th Century silver chalice; it's only three inches tall, but size doesn't seem to matter to the theological historians, who rate this as a particularly rare spiritual relic.
The original Chessington Hall belonged to the unsuccessful 18th Century writer Samuel Crisp, but proved more inspiring for the novelist Fanny Burney who dashed off much of her work whilst on visits here. The Hall was trampled over by new housing estates, but these didn't reach as far south as Burnt Stub, a neo gothic Victorian mansion sitting beneath Winey Hill.
Escaping the developers' bulldozers was something of mixed blessing for the building, with purists arguing that it subsequently suffered a fate worse than demolition. Having relinquished its grounds for the largest private zoo in the world, rollercoasters were soon to follow and a whole new menagerie arrived on Burnt Stub's doorstep.
The gothic towers of the building still sit at the centre of the Chessington World of Adventures, an immense fantasy playground that keeps the kids enthralled and roads congested throughout the year.
Housing in Chessington consists largely of 1930's semis of various sizes. Just below the A3, in the smaller avenues around Priory Road and Fullers Way South, popular family properties fetch £150-£180,000.
Larger houses, in slightly leafier avenues, are found near Bolton Road and start at £200,000. More imposing properties, including some substantial detached homes, are available along the Hook and Leatherhead Roads, situated just far enough back from the road to take the edge off the traffic teeming by.
Modern developers have been busy around town, with purpose built flat blocks on the site of the old Chessington Hall, and the Mansfield Park development offering an estate of fairly swish contemporary family housing.
Cheaper options include the ex-council properties and bungalows that complete the suburban picture from Garrison Avenue to the east. As Chessington breaks up into rural space to the south, there are a number of individual period properties dotted about, often in beautiful woodland settings. On the rare occasions these reach the market, prices can move towards the million pound mark.
When Petula Clarke was singing the joys of being Downtown, chances are she wasn't thinking of her childhood town, but the city-sized attractions of nearby Kingston. Chessington has parades of shops with some familiar high street names, but the more extensive facilities of its larger neighbours to the north are within all too easy reach.
Nearby greenbelt recreation is plentiful, with Epsom Common to the south and woodland walks over towards Claygate. Kids won't need reminding of the palace of fun on their doorstep, and the children's farm at Horton Park is also nearby. Golfers are well served with all manner of exclusive and public access courses in the area.
Schooling options are excellent for both state and private pupils, with Kingston upon Thames Borough scoring consistently well on the league tables.
Chessington has two stations with frequent and speedy links to the city. On the roads, the Ace of Spades underpass north of Hook was one of the first in the country, opened in 1960, and deemed an engineering feat worthy of celebration in the London Science Museum.
Under-heating cables and all, it's still prone to flooding, but takes the A3 right past the town. For trips further afield, the M5 is nearby, and Gatwick and Heathrow are easily accessed.
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