Borough of Epsom and Ewell
—  Non-metropolitan district, Borough  —
Epsom and Ewell shown within Surrey
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Surrey
Status	Non-metropolitan district, Borough
Admin HQ	Epsom
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Epsom and Ewell Borough Council
• Leadership	Alternative - Sec. 31 (Independent)
• MPs	Chris Grayling
Area
• Total	13.15 sq mi (34.07 km2)
Area rank	304th (of 326)
Population (2010 est.)
• Total	74,300
• Rank	298th (of 326)
• Density	5,600/sq mi (2,200/km2)
• Ethnicity	91.3% White 3.8% S.Asian
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
ONS code	43UC
OS grid reference	TQ205605
Website	www.epsom-ewell.gov.uk

Epsom and Ewell is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the town of Epsom and the village of Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was made a municipal borough in 1937. The district was considered for inclusion in Greater London in 1965 but was left unaltered by the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974.^[1] However, despite being outside modern Greater London the borough was in the Metropolitan Police District until it was transferred to Surrey Police in 2000. In the May 2011 elections, the borough was held by the Epsom and Ewell Residents Association with 26 seats, Liberal Democrats with 6 seats and both the Labour and Conservatives with 3 seats.

History[link]

Epsom and Ewell lie on the spring line on the north face of the North Downs where pervious chalk meets impervious London clay and a series of springs form. In Ewell the springs which form the Hogsmill River are evident, those in Epsom less so. The springs attracted prehistoric people and remains have been found, mostly in Ewell and particularly near the Hogsmill. In Roman times the road now known as Stane Street, from London to Chichester, passed through Epsom and Ewell. Roman remains have been found in Ewell suggesting a sizeable settlement. Epsom and Ewell have Saxon names: Ewell takes its name from the spring in the centre of the village and Epsom, or Ebbisham, is the enclosure of Ebbi. A Saxon cemetery in The Grove in Ewell was excavated in the 1930s.

In medieval times the area was covered by three manors: Cuddington, which was owned by the Codington family; Epsom, which belonged to Chertsey Abbey; and Ewell, associated with Merton Priory. In 1538 the village of Cuddington was destroyed to make way for Henry VIII's Nonsuch Palace and its parks. Henry died before the palace was complete but it was visited by his daughter Queen Elizabeth. It was demolished in 1682.

Epsom became a spa in the early 17th century when a spring containing Epsom salts was discovered on the Common. Its popularity with London society brought visits from Samuel Pepys and Nell Gwynne, the development of shops and inns and the oldest spa assembly rooms in England. This stands at the western end of Epsom High Street. Horse racing on Epsom Downs began during the spa period, but it was not until the Oaks was run in 1789 and the Derby the following year that it took on its present form. The first grandstand was built in 1830 and Queen's Stand in 1995. The 1927 grandstand was demolished in 2007/8 and the new Duchess's Stand opened in its place in 2009.

Many large houses were built in Epsom during and after the spa period. St Martin's Church was rebuilt in 1825 and partly rebuilt in 1908 and the clock tower in the centre of the town replaced the earlier watchhouse in 1847. Ewell saw less change and, although now surrounded by suburbia, retains much of village character. Its medieval church was replaced by the present Victorian one in 1848, but the medieval tower stands in the churchyard.

The Pre-Raphaelite painters, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, had connections with both Ewell and Cuddington and used local scenes as backgrounds for a number of paintings, notably 'Ophelia' by Millais and 'The Light of the World' by Hunt.

In 1995 Epsom and Ewell twinned with Chantilly in northern France, another racing town. Links are coordinated by Epsom and Ewell Town Twinning Association.^[2]

Transport[link]

Railway stations in the borough include Epsom, Ewell East, Ewell West and Stoneleigh. Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner stations sit on the borough borders. All stations except Epsom are in London Travelcard zone 5 and 6. The borough is just north of, and entirely within, the M25 motorway. London Gatwick Airport is 20 miles south from Epsom. Numerous buses serve the town, and Epsom Coaches and its bus division Quality Line are based in Epsom.

Politics[link]

This is the current composition of the borough Council with the Residents Association dominating with 26 seats

Epsom and Ewell is one of the few councils dominated by a group not linked to a national political party. Epsom and Ewell Residents Association has dominated the council since the foundation of the borough. Epsom and Ewell Parliamentary Constituency is one of the most Conservative seats and contains the entirety of the borough. As the population is not large enough for a full seat, it has also contained neighbouring areas. Since 1997 it also contains Ashtead, part of the Mole Valley district. Before boundaries changed in 1997 the constituency instead contained Banstead to the east, which is part of Reigate and Banstead borough.

Previous election results are as follows:

Education[link]

Epsom and Ewell has several secondary schools, Glyn School, Epsom and Ewell High School, Rosebery School, Blenheim High School and Linden Bridge School. In addition it also has two private schools, Epsom College and Ewell Castle

Further education[link]

• North East Surrey College Of Technology

Higher education[link]

• University for the Creative Arts

References[link]

v t e Districts of South East England Berkshire Bracknell Forest Reading Slough West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Vale Chiltern Milton Keynes South Bucks Wycombe East Sussex Brighton and Hove Eastbourne Hastings Lewes Rother Wealden Hampshire Basingstoke and Deane East Hampshire Eastleigh Fareham Gosport Hart Havant New Forest Portsmouth Rushmoor Southampton Test Valley Winchester Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Kent Ashford Canterbury Dartford Dover Gravesham Maidstone Medway Sevenoaks Shepway Swale Thanet Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells Oxfordshire Cherwell Oxford South Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse West Oxfordshire Surrey Elmbridge Epsom and Ewell Guildford Mole Valley Reigate and Banstead Runnymede Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tandridge Waverley Woking West Sussex Adur Arun Chichester Crawley Horsham Mid Sussex Worthing

Coordinates: 51°19′58″N 0°15′54″W / 51.3329°N 0.2651°W / 51.3329; -0.2651

Coordinates: 51°20′10″N 0°16′03″W / 51.3361°N 0.2674°W / 51.3361; -0.2674

Epsom
High Street, Epsom
Epsom  Epsom shown within Surrey
Population	27,065
OS grid reference	TQ205605
District	Epsom and Ewell
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	EPSOM
Postcode district	KT17 KT18 KT19
Dialling code	01372
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Epsom and Ewell
List of places: UK • England • Surrey

Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Some parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located 16 miles (26 km) south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland in the valley of Epsom Downs.

History[link]

Epsom is famous for the Epsom Downs Racecourse which hosts the Epsom Derby; painting by Théodore Géricault, 1821.

St Martin of Tours, Epsom

Epsom lies within the Copthorne hundred, an administrative division devised by the Saxons. The name of Epsom derives from Ebba's ham. Ebba was a Saxon landowner. There were a string of settlements, many ending in -ham, along the northern slopes of the Downs, including Effingham, Bookham, and Cheam. The only relic from this period is a 7th century brooch found in Epsom and now in the British Museum.

The early history of the area is bound up with the Abbey of Chertsey, whose ownership of Ebbisham was confirmed by King Athelstan in 933.

Epsom appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Evesham. It was held by Chertsey Abbey. Its domesday assets were: 11 hides; 2 churches, 2 mills worth 10 shillings, 18 ploughs, 24 acres (97,000 m²) of meadow, woodland worth 20 hogs. It rendered £17.^[1] The town at the time of Domesday Book had 38 peasant households grouped near St. Martin's Church. Later, other small settlements grew up at the town pond (now the Market in the High Street), and at Epsom Court, Horton, Woodcote, and Langley Vale.

The Epsom Derby, the second leg of the English Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing is run each June on nearby Epsom Downs Racecourse.

Lord Rosebery

The British Prime Minister and first chairman of the London County Council, Lord Rosebery, was sent down (expelled) from the University of Oxford in 1869 for buying a racehorse and entering it in the Derby − it finished last. Lord Rosebery remained closely associated with the town throughout his life, leaving land to the borough, commemorated in the names of Rosebery Park and Rosebery School. A house was also named after him at Epsom College, a public school located in Epsom.

Historically, Epsom was known as a spa town, although there is little to see nowadays apart from a water pump. There were entertainments at the Assembly Rooms (built c. 1690 and now a pub). A housing estate has now been built upon the wells.

Epsom salts are named after the town. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) was originally prepared by boiling down mineral waters at Epsom.

Town[link]

Town Hall, The Parade

Owing partly to its position in the London commuter belt allowing easy access to the Greater London conurbation to the north and the rolling Surrey countryside to the south, the borough of Epsom and Ewell was named in August 2005 by Channel 4's Location, Location, Location as the "Best Place to Live" in the United Kingdom, and ranked at numbers 8 and 3 in subsequent years.^[2][3]

Epsom and Ewell was ranked in the top ten of the Halifax Quality of Life Survey 2011.^[4]

The Epsom Playhouse was opened in 1984 and is run by Epsom and Ewell Borough council.^[5]

Epsom Clock Tower was built in 1847, replacing the watchhouse which stood from the 17th century, and was built to 70 feet of red and suffolk brick, with heraldic lions of Caen Stone at the four corners of the tower base. A bell was added in 1867. By 1902 the lions had been replaced by lanterns, (which were replaced by the current globe lights in 1920) and the toilet buildings added either side of the tower.^[6]

The Ashley Centre, a shopping mall, was built in the early 1980s and subsequently parts of the high street were pedestrianised as part of the construction of the town's one-way system. In the 1990s, a large multiplex Odeon cinema was built in Upper High Street.

The late 1990s saw the development of the Ebbisham Centre, a community service based development, including a doctors' surgery, Epsom Library, a cafe and a health and fitness centre. The Derby Square expanded and includes a number of franchise chain pubs/bars.

The University for the Creative Arts has one of its five campuses in Epsom. Laine Theatre Arts, an independent performing arts college, is based in the town. Students have included Victoria Beckham. Leisure facilities in and around the town include a leisure centre (the Rainbow Centre) on East Street; Epsom Downs Racecourse; the Odeon cinema; and the Horton Park Children's Farm.

Major employers in the town include Epsom and Ewell Borough Council and WS Atkins.

As part of Epsom and Ewell, the town is twinned with Chantilly in northern France.

Sport & Leisure[link]

Epsom has a Non-League football club Epsom & Ewell F.C. who currently groundshare with Merstham F.C., as they sold their original ground of West Street. They are still currently looking to move back into the Epsom area^[7]

Surrounding area[link]

Neighbouring areas of Surrey

	Claygate	Ewell	Sutton
	Oxshott		Banstead
		Epsom    East
	Ashtead	Headley	Kingswood

Hospitals[link]

As well as Epsom's General Hospital, the town was well known as the location of a group of five large Edwardian psychiatric hospitals, commonly known as the Epsom Cluster. Most of the hospitals closed in the 1990s and early 2000s, although psychiatric services are still offered on parts of the Horton, West Park, St. Ebba's and Manor Hospital sites.

View of Epsom, John Constable, c. 1808.

The hospitals were (in order of date of opening):

• Manor Hospital^[8] (1899)
• St Ebba's Hospital^[9] (1902)
• Horton Hospital^[10] (1903)
• Long Grove Hospital^[11] (1907, an exact duplicate of Horton Hospital to save construction time)
• West Park Hospital^[12] (construction started 1912, used as a military hospital from 1916 and officially opened in 1921)

The hospitals were built in close proximity to each other on a 1,096-acre (4.44 km²) estate close to Epsom Common, which the London County Council bought to solve the overcrowding problems experienced in its other hospitals. The hospitals shared a central 'engineering works' next to Long Grove, which supplied all five institutions with water and electricity and were served by the private Horton Light Railway. Today, of the former hospitals, three have been largely redeveloped for housing (Horton, The Manor and Long Grove Hospital) and two are in the process of being redeveloped while retaining limited NHS services including day care and a cottage hospital.^[13]

The surrounding land has now become the Horton Country Park and is also home to the Horton Park Children's Farm.^[14]

Transport[link]

Rail[link]

Epsom railway station has frequent rail services to London (running to Waterloo, Victoria and London Bridge), and also to Leatherhead, Dorking, Guildford, Horsham, West Croydon and Wimbledon where it connects with the London Underground. The town's other station, Epsom Town, was closed in 1929; and although most of the listed buildings remain they have apparenty been left to decay, and incorporated into fast food and shop storage areas on the Upper High Street. This is regrettable as the station is of historic interest being the arrival point for Queen Victoria and her entourage prior to taking a carriage up to Epsom Downs. The deriliction is even more evident from the train line from Ewell East railway station).

Two other railway lines were built to serve the Epsom Downs Racecourse, with termini at Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner.

The Horton Light Railway was built around 1905, as a branch from the main line near Ewell West Station, to deliver building materials to the mental hospitals (see above) being built on what is now Horton Country Park.

There is a train station at tattehnam corner, which is just located of the downs.

Bus[link]

Bus services connect Epsom to Sutton, Kingston, Redhill and other neighbouring areas, and a regular service connects with the London Underground at Morden. Some bus services are commercial, some run with the support of Surrey County Council, and others under contract to London Buses (part of TfL). Coach company Epsom Coaches and their bus division Quality Line are based in the town.

Road[link]

• The A24 passes through the centre of the town.
• The M25 motorway can be joined at Junction 9 Leatherhead, via the A24 south.
• The B280 runs from Epsom (West Hill) through Malden Rushett (A243) to Oxshott.

Education[link]

Epsom College

State schools include Blenheim High School, Epsom and Ewell High School,^[15] Glyn Technology School, North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT) and Rosebery School for Girls and also The Beacon School Banstead.^[16] There is also a campus of the University for the Creative Arts.

Primary schools include Southfield Park Primary School, Epsom Down Primary School and Children Centre and Danetree Junior School

Independent schools include Epsom College, Kingswood House School, St. Christopher's School and Ewell Castle School.^[17]

Emergency services[link]

Epsom is served by these emergency services.

• Surrey Police
• South East Coast Ambulance Service as of 1 July 2006. The Surrey Ambulance Service, Sussex, and Kent Ambulance services have all merged, and have now ceased to exist.
• Surrey Fire & Rescue Service
• Epsom General Hospital, which has an Accident and Emergency facility.

Notable people[link]

Notable people who were born in Epsom include television personalities Jeremy Vine, Mel Giedroyc and Michaela Strachan (born in Ewell) as well as artist Simon Starling, actor Warwick Davis, actress Alex Kingston, and the current Ambassador of the European Union to the United Nations, Thomas Mayr-Harting. People who have lived in Epsom at some time include writer Isabella Beeton, comedian Norman Wisdom, author and charity-founder David Charles Manners, snooker player Jimmy White and football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme. Magnum Photographer Martin Parr was born in Epsom. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin fame is also a famous son of Epsom and his father owned the Page Motors garage. Andy Ward, the drummer of famous band Camel was born here as well as adult film star Nici Sterling, Jody Morris - Footballer, Played for Chelsea, Leeds United, Millwall and is now the captain for St Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League. Popular singer Petula Clark was also born in Epsom.

See also[link]

• The Epsom Riot
• Epsom Downs

References[link]

External links[link]

• Epsom - 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article
• Town of Epsom
• Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
• Exploring St.Ebbas Hospital
• Exploring West Park Asylum
• Detailed History of the Spa, Salts and Springs of Epsom and Ewell

v t e Towns, villages and hamlets in the Epsom and Ewell District of Surrey, England Epsom Ewell Langley Vale Stoneleigh

Coordinates: 51°21′01″N 0°14′55″W / 51.3502°N 0.2486°W / 51.3502; -0.2486

Ewell
Dog Gate Bourne Hall and Spring Street Ewell
Ewell  Ewell shown within Surrey
Population	39,994 (2001 Census)[1]
OS grid reference	TQ219627
District	Epsom and Ewell
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	EPSOM
Postcode district	KT17, KT19
Dialling code	020
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Epsom and Ewell
List of places: UK • England • Surrey

Ewell ( /ˈjuːl/) is a village in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, close to the southern boundary of Greater London. It is located 14 miles (22.5 km) south-south-west of Charing Cross and forms part of the suburbia that surrounds Greater London. Despite its growing population it is still referred to as a village by locals and largely maintains a rural character. Ewell is at the head of the Hogsmill river, a tributary of the River Thames, and the spring has likely been considered sacred dating back into pre-history.

Neighbouring towns and villages include Cheam, Chessington, Epsom, Tolworth, Stoneleigh and Worcester Park.

History[link]

The name Ewell derives from Old English æwell, which means river source or spring. The old Roman road Stane Street deviates from a straight line slightly at Ewell in order to pass by the spring. Ewell is one of a number of settlements founded along the geological line between the chalk of the North Downs to the south, and the clay of the London Basin to the north. The A24 London Road runs from Merton to Ewell along the course of the Roman road, and Stane Street leaves Ewell connecting it towards Leatherhead and Dorking to the south-west. Bronze Age remains have also been found in Ewell and the Romans are likely to have encountered an existing religious site when they first arrived.

Ewell lay within the Copthorne hundred, an administrative division devised by the Saxons.

Ewell appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Etwelle. It was held by William the Conqueror. Its domesday assets were: 13½ hides; 2 mills worth 10s, 16 ploughs, 14 acres (57,000 m²) of meadow, woodland and herbage worth 111 hogs. It rendered £25; also £1 from the church in Leatherhead, which was held by Osbert de Ow and was attached to his manor.^[2]

King Henry VIII established the 1538 Nonsuch Palace, considered one of his greatest building projects, to the north-east of the village. The estate, which remains a public park, was one of his favourite hunting grounds, although no trace of the palace remains having been destroyed during the 17th century.

Tunnels dating from the English Civil War exist underneath Ewell but are poorly documented and inaccessible to the public. One such secret passage is reported to emerge under the shop on the corner of West Street and High Street.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1980s, an elderly lifelong resident of Ewell (Digance) recalled the pasture land and orchards that stretched north and west right across to Berrylands (located between Tolworth and Surbiton). This radical transformation is documented in the photography collected in the book Archive Photos - Epsom and Ewell.^[3] The suburban residential development now present across that area is comprised almost exclusively of 1930s/40s semi-detached houses, and the Hogsmill Open Space is the last remaining indication of Ewell's very rural pre-war history.

Today[link]

The Pond, Bourne Hall, Ewell

Ewell Castle School, Church Street

In August 2005 the borough of Epsom and Ewell was rated the most desirable place to live in the United Kingdom by the British television programme The Best and Worst Place to Live in the UK, although in 2006 it dropped to 8th place. The borough's low crime rate, good education results and large number of open spaces were all cited as especially attractive features, although it lost marks due to a 'lack of entertainment facilities'.

One of Ewell's most notable landmarks is the architecturally impressive Bourne Hall, situated in the centre of the village. Originally the site of Garbrand Hall, a large country mansion, Bourne Hall is now a modernist circular structure with a central glass dome, and is surrounded by an attractive public park. The building, which is reminiscent of an immense flying saucer, hosts a public library, subterranean theatre, gymnasium, cafe, and local museum. It regularly holds gatherings such as fayres, Yoga and Karate lessons.

Ewell has a Parish Church (Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell), which was designed by Henry Clutton and consecrated in 1848. It is home to the 1889 'Father' Henry Willis pipe organ. Around the village there are a number of schools, including Private school Ewell Castle School, Ewell Grove Infant and Nursery School,^[4] Glyn Technology School^[5] and the North-East Surrey College of Technology.

Unlike most parts of Epsom, Ewell has telephone numbers using the London 020 area code, an anomaly shared with Chigwell and Loughton in Essex. Ewell also has an unusually large telephone exchange, next door to the Spring pub, which was fitted with underground facilities designed to survive a nuclear conflict during the late years of the Cold War.

It was transferred in 2000 from the Metropolitan Police, in whose district it had been placed since 1839, to the jurisdiction of Surrey Police.

Sports and recreation[link]

Ewell is also home to Ewell St. Mary's Morris Men. Founded in 1979, further to a bequest from the then Vicar, Peter Hogben, for the annual Village Fete - the Team danced into The Morris Ring in the late eighties and now have many unique dances in their repertoire. They dance Cotswold Morris and sport black top hats, red and white baldricks and ribbons.

In West Ewell, there is a King George's Field in memorial to King George V. The local sports club (Ebbisham Sports Club) cater for badminton, squash and tennis, in addition to having a social club.

Ewell Tennis Club^[6] is located in the village, catering for tennis players of all standards.

Ewell lies on the London Outer Orbital Path walking route.

Transport[link]

Ewell is served by two railway stations: Ewell West, which has services towards London Waterloo, Dorking and Guildford and Ewell East, which has services towards London Victoria and Horsham.

There are many bus services which stop in Ewell, including the 293, 406, 418, 467, 470, E5 and E16

Notable people[link]

Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt married and produced several of his famous works here, with the doorway linking St Mary's church yard and the grounds of Glyn House being reproduced as the door on which Christ is knocking in Hunt's famous painting, The Light of the World. Former cyclist Sean Yates is also from Ewell.

Pop singer Petula Clark was born in Ewell, as well as the broadcaster James Whale, and TV presenter Michaela Strachan. Ex Chelsea footballer Ron Harris lived in Ewell during the 1970s, and Trevor "Tosh" Chamberlain (ex-Fulham) still does.

References[link]

External links[link]

Media related to Ewell at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Towns, villages and hamlets in the Epsom and Ewell District of Surrey, England Epsom Ewell Langley Vale Stoneleigh