Epsom facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Epsom
Town
Epsom Clock Tower, High Street
Epsom
Area	18.04 km2 (6.97 sq mi)
Population	31,489 (2011 census)
• Density	1,746/km2 (4,520/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ2060
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 51°19′59″N 00°16′07″W / 51.33306°N 0.26861°W / 51.33306; -0.26861

Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about 14 miles (22 kilometres) 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 earliest evidence of human activity is from the mid-Bronze Age, but the modern settlement probably grew up in the area surrounding St Martin's Church in the 6th or 7th centuries and the street pattern is thought to have become established in the Middle Ages. Today the High Street is dominated by the clock tower, which was erected in 1847–8.

Like other nearby settlements, Epsom is located on the spring line where the permeable chalk of the North Downs meets the impermeable London Clay. Several tributaries of the Hogsmill River rise in the town and in the 17th and early 18th centuries, the spring on Epsom Common was believed to have healing qualities. The mineral waters were found to be rich in Epsom salts, which were later identified as magnesium sulphate. Charles II was among those who regularly took the waters and several prominent writers, including John Aubrey, Samuel Pepys and Celia Fiennes recorded their visits. The popularity of the spa declined rapidly in the 1720s as a result of competition from other towns, including Bath and Tunbridge Wells.

Organised horse racing on Epsom Downs is believed to have taken place since the early 17th century. The popularity of Epsom grew as The Oaks and The Derby were established in 1779 and 1780 respectively. The first grandstand at the racecourse was constructed in 1829 and more than 127,000 people attended Derby Day in 1843. During the 1913 Derby the suffragette Emily Davison sustained fatal injuries after being hit by King George V's horse.

The opening of the first railway station in Epsom in 1847, coupled with the breakup of the Epsom Court estate, stimulated the development of the town. Today Epsom station is an important railway junction, where lines to London Victoria and London Waterloo diverge. Since 1946, the town has been surrounded on three sides by the Metropolitan Green Belt, which severely limits the potential for expansion. Two local nature reserves, Epsom Common and Horton Country Park, are to the west of the centre and Epsom Downs, to the south, is a Site of Nature Conservation Importance.

Toponymy

The first written record of a settlement at Epsom dates from the 10th century, when its name is given as Ebesham. It appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Evesham and in subsequent surviving documents as Ebbesham and Ebesam (12th century), Epsam (15th century), Ebbisham and Epsham (16th century) and Epsome (17th century). The first known use of the modern spelling Epsom is from 1718.

The name "Epsom" is thought to derive from that of a Saxon landowner, either as Ebba's ham or Ebbi's ham (where ham means home or settlement). Alternatively the name may come from ebbe, the Old English word for "flow", which may reference an intermittent stream or spring in the area.

The first surviving record of land at Horton is from a charter of 1178, in which the modern spelling is used. It is also recorded as Hortune (1263) and Hortone (1325). The name is thought to derive from the Old English words horh and tun and is generally agreed to mean a "muddy farm".

Geography

Soil and elevation

The town is bisected in two in terms of soil: the north of the town is on gravel and sand deposited around the London Clay of most of London as the Thanet Formation, whereas the south-east of the town is on uneroded chalk slopes: Epsom Downs refers to these slopes reaching up to wide plateau (on which sit the formerly water-scarce settlements: Box Hill, Walton on the Hill, Tadworth and Kingswood, Surrey) and covers 990 acres (400 ha) of what is in traditional terms and in technical terms, part of the area of the settlement, called Epsom Downs. In terms of topsoil, the northern soil is free draining, slightly acid but base-rich soils, producing extremely fertile pastures and deciduous woodland. The southern soil is of two types:

• shallow, lime-rich soil over chalk or limestone of the escarpment
• slightly acid, loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage soil

The town's clustered bulk is at 35m to 70m (above Ordnance Datum, mean sea level) and slopes incrementally from south and all other directions (to a lesser extent) towards the centre-north. The racecourse and Langley Vale parts of Epsom rise to high points of 140m and form a drainage divide between tributaries of the Thames flowing north and towards the Mole Gap south-west.

Nearest settlements

Neighbouring areas of Surrey

	Hook West Ewell, Ewell	Ewell	Cheam Sutton
	Chessington		Banstead
		Epsom
	Ashtead	Walton on the Hill	Tattenham Corner

History

Epsom lies within the Copthorne hundred used for periodic, strategic meetings of the wealthy and powerful in Anglo Saxon England, and later having a Hundred Court. The name of Epsom is early recorded as forms of Ebba's ham (home or perhaps manor). Ebba was a Saxon landowner. Many Spring line settlements by springs in Anglo-Saxon England were founded at the foot of dry valleys such as here and Effingham, Bookham, Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Croydon and Bromley. A relic from this period is a 7th-century brooch found in Epsom and now in the British Museum.

Chertsey Abbey, whose ownership of the main manor of Ebbisham was confirmed by King Athelstan in 933, asserted during its Middle Ages existence that Frithwald and Bishop Erkenwald granted it 20 mansas of land in Epsom in 727. Epsom appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Evesham, 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; altogether it rendered £17 per year to its overlords. The town at the time of Domesday Book had 38 households (and 6 serfs noteworthy enough to be recorded as assets), some of them in a nucleated village near the parish church of which there were two. At various dates in the Middle Ages manors were founded by subinfeudation at Epsom Court, Horton, Woodcote, Brettgrave and Langley Vale.

Under Henry VIII and Queen Mary the manor passed to the Carew then related Darcy families. It passed via the Mynne, Buckle and Parkhurst families to Sir Charles Kemys Tynte and after his death to Sir Joseph Mawbey.

By the end of the Georgian period, Epsom was known as a spa town. Remnants of this are its water pump and multiple exhibits in the town's museum. There were entertainments at the Assembly Rooms (built c. 1690 and now a pub). A green-buffered housing estate has now been built upon the wells in the south-west of the town.

Epsom salts are named after the town. Epsom salt (magnesium sulphate) was originally prepared by boiling down mineral waters which sprung at Epsom. The town's market is built on the pond that existed in the Middle Ages.

Within the centuries-old boundaries is Epsom Downs Racecourse which features two of the five English Classic horse races; The Derby and The Oaks, which were first run in 1780 and 1779 respectively. On 4 June 1913, Emily Davison, a militant women's suffrage activist, stepped in front of King George V's horse running in the Derby, sustaining fatal injuries.

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 several roads, Rosebery Park and Rosebery School. A house was also named after him at Epsom College, one of Britain's public schools in Epsom.

Demography and housing

In the 2011 Census, the combined population of the college, Court, Stamford, Town and Woodcote wards was 31,489.

2011 Census Households

Ward	Population	Households	% Owned outright	% Owned with a loan	hectares
College	5,873	2,248	41.1	35.9	316
Court	6,830	2,567	13.8	39.8	213
Stamford	6,088	2,348	38.5	43.7	436
Town	6,979	3,154	27	29.1	136
Woodcote	5,719	2,286	41.4	37.9	703
Regional average			35.1	32.5

2011 Census Homes

Ward	Detached	Semi-detached	Terraced	Flats and apartments	Caravans/temporary/mobile homes/houseboats	Shared between households
College	1,040	425	144	622	0	17
Court	160	721	947	738	1	0
Stamford	707	995	300	346	0	0
Town	237	849	455	1,584	2	27
Woodcote	1,111	513	232	430	0	0

Public services

Utilities

The public gas supply to Epsom began in 1839, when the Epsom and Ewell Gas Company purchased land on East Street for the town gasworks. Initially coal was transported by road from Battersea, but was delivered by train following the opening of the railway in 1847. Gas-powered street lighting was installed in the town centre by 1840. The Epsom and Ewell Gas Company was amalgamated with the Wandsworth and Putney Gas Light & Coke Company and the Mitcham and Wimbledon District Gas Light Company in 1912.

The Epsom waterworks were established on East Road in 1853. By 1870, there were at least two wells on the site, which supplied water to the town. Until the mid-19th century, sewage was disposed of in cesspits, however the high water table in the town often lead to drinking water becoming contaminated. The pond in the centre of High Street, which had become polluted with waste, was filled in 1854 under the direction of the newly formed local board of health. The first sewerage system was created the same year, which included the construction of a sewage farm on Hook Road (then known as Kingston Lane). A comprehensive drainage plan was produced in 1895, after the formation of Epsom UDC, and arrangements were made to share the Leatherhead sewage outfall. The site of the sewage farm was redeveloped and is now the Longmead Industrial Estate. Under the Water Act 1973, control of the water supply passed to the Thames Valley Water Authority, which was privatised to become Thames Water in 1973.

An electricity generating station was opened in 1902 in Depot Road. Initially it was capable of generating 220 kW of power, but by the time of its closure in 1939, its installed capacity was 2 MW. Under the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926, Epsom was connected to the National Grid, initially to a 33 kV supply ring, which linked the town to Croydon, Leatherhead, Dorking and Reigate. In 1939, the ring was connected to the Wimbledon-Woking main via a 132 kV substation at Leatherhead.

Emergency services and justice

Following the County Courts Act 1848, a courthouse was built in Epsom. The County and Magistrates' Courts closed in 2010. Epsom Police Station was opened in Church Street in July 1963. The Epsom force had been part of the Metropolitan Police since 1829, but was transferred to Surrey Police in April 2000.

Epsom is thought to have acquired a "manual" fire engine in around the 1760s. It was operated by volunteers and was kept at the clock tower in the High Street. The first full-time brigade was established in 1870 and, by the end of the century, was based on Waterloo Road. The current fire station in Church Street was opened in 1937. In 2021, the fire authority for Epsom is Surrey County Council and the statutory fire service is Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. Epsom Ambulance Station is run by the South East Coast Ambulance Service.

Healthcare

Epsom Cottage Hospital, the first hospital in Epsom, was opened in Pikes Hill in 1873. It moved to Hawthorne Place in 1877 and, in 1889, a new building was constructed in Alexandra Road to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The suffragette, Emily Davison, died at the hospital after being hit by King George V's horse at the 1913 Derby. Epsom Cottage Hospital officially closed in 1988, however the premises are used today as a community hospital offering physiotherapy and rehabilitation services.

Epsom Hospital was built by the Poor Law Guardians adjacent to the workhouse on Dorking Road in 1890. It was made the responsibility of Surrey County Council in 1930 and became part of the NHS in 1948. Since April 1999, it has been run by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, following a merger between the Epsom Health Care and St Helier NHS Trusts. Epsom Hospital has an A&E department.

The Epsom Cluster was a group of five psychiatric hospitals, built to the west of Epsom on land purchased by London County Council in 1896. The Manor Asylum was the first to be opened in 1899 and the fifth, West Park Asylum, was fully completed in June 1924, having been used by the Canadian Military during WWI. A light railway was constructed to deliver building materials and coal to the construction sites. Clean water was supplied from a borehole and a power station was constructed to provide electricity to the five institutions. All of the hospitals closed during the 1990s and 2000s and their sites have since been redeveloped for housing.

As of 2021, the town has three GP practices.

Transport

Bus

Epsom is linked by a number of bus routes to surrounding towns and villages in north Surrey and south London. Operators serving the town include Falcon Buses, London United and Go-Ahead London.

Train

Epsom railway station is a short distance to the north of the town centre and is managed by Southern. The current station building was opened in 2013, following a three-year, £20M redevelopment. It is served by trains to London Victoria and London Bridge via Sutton, to London Waterloo via Wimbledon, to Horsham via Dorking and to Guildford via Bookham.

Long-distance footpath

The Thames Down Link long-distance footpath between Kingston upon Thames and Box Hill runs through Horton Country Park and across Epsom Common.

Education

Further and Higher Education

The Epsom campus of the University for the Creative Arts was founded as the Epsom Technical Institute & School of Art in 1896. The original building in Church Street was designed by John Hatchard-Smith in the English Renaissance style and was financed by public subscription. It moved to new premises in Ashley Road in 1973 and merged with the West Surrey College of Art and Design to form the Surrey Institute of Art and Design in 1994. The combined institution was granted university college status in 1999. In 2005, it merged with the Kent Institute of Art and Design to become the University for the Creative Arts.

Laine Theatre Arts is an independent performing arts college, founded by Betty Laine in 1974. It prepares students for careers in professional musical theatre and teaches the core skills of dance, singing and acting. Alumni include Victoria Beckham, Kerry Ellis, Ben Richards and Sarah Hadland.

Maintained schools

Blenheim High School opened in 1997 and it became an academy in 2012.

Glyn School was founded as the Epsom County School in 1927 and became a grammar school in 1944. It was renamed Glyn Grammar School in 1954, after Sir Arthur Glyn, the first chairman of the school Governing Body. It became a comprehensive school in 1976 and its name changed again to Glyn/ADT School of Technology in 1994. The school gained academy status in 2011.

Rosebery School was opened in 1921 as the Epsom County Secondary School for Girls. In 1927, it moved to its current site on land donated by Lord Rosebery, acquiring its present name at the same time. It became an academy in 2011.

Both Glyn School and Rosberry School are part of the multi-academy trust GLF Schools

Independent schools

Epsom College was founded in 1851 as the Medical Benevolent College by the physician, John Propert. The school buildings were opened in 1855 by Prince Albert and the first cohort of 100 pupils were all sons of medics. By 1865, the school roll had grown to 300 and had been opened to those able to pay fees. The Grade II-listed chapel, dedicated to St Luke, was built in 1857 and was enlarged by Arthur Blomfield in 1895. Girls were first admitted to the school in 1976 and Epsom College became fully coeducational in 1996.

Kingswood House School is a preparatory school to the west of the town centre. It was founded in 1899 and moved to its present site on West Hill in 1920. Since the 1960s it has operated exclusively as a day school. Girls were admitted for the first time in September 2021.

Places of worship

St Martin's Church

The Domesday Book entry for Epsom includes two churches, one of which is thought to have been on the site of the present St Martin's Church. The oldest part of the current building is the flint tower, which dates from around 1450. Much of the remainder of the church dates from a rebuilding in 1824, with the exception of the choir, chancel and transepts, which were added by Sir Charles Nicholson in 1908. The 15th century spire was damaged in a storm in 1947 and was subsequently demolished.

Following the 1824 rebuilding, many of the memorials from the medieval church were reinstalled in the new church, including several by the sculptor John Flaxman. The parish chest, made from carved Spanish mahogany, is reputed to contain wood recovered from ships of the Spanish Armada. The church also holds a copy of the so-called vinegar bible of 1717. The east window, by the local designer F.A. Oldaker, shows Christ the Light of the World, in the style of the painting by William Holman Hunt.

Christ Church

Christ Church was founded as a chapel of ease to St Martin's in 1843. Initially a temporary structure was provided until the first permanent building was opened in 1845. In July 1874, Epsom parish was divided into two, with the western half becoming the new parish of Epsom Common. The chapel of ease became the parish church, but was considered too small for the congregation. Its replacement, the present church, was designed in the Gothic revival style by Arthur Blomfield and opened in 1876. It is constructed from flint with stone dressings and there is a clerestory above the nave. The tower and south aisle were added in 1879 and 1887 respectively.

The chancel arch is decorated with a mural of Christ flanked by angels, beneath which is the rood screen, made of wrought iron and bronze, which was erected 1909. The alabaster reredos, behind the altar, contains figurative scenes in mosaic and the east wall is decorated with panels depicting the four Evangelists. The pulpit dates from 1880 and was originally in St Andrew's Church, Surbiton. The interior of the church was reordered between 1987 and 1995 to increase the versatility of the nave.

United Reformed Church

Following the Act of Uniformity 1662, local nonconformists began meeting in small groups at Ewell, before establishing themselves at Epsom in around 1688. The Dissenting community flourished in the town in the late 17th and early 18th centuries and, in 1720, the first purpose-built meeting house was constructed on Church Street. As the population of the town decreased in the later 18th century, the congregation declined and the meeting house appears to have been sold by 1803, but remained in use for worship. A new, Gothic revival congregational church was opened in 1905 on the same site. Much of the church, including the roof and organ, was destroyed in fire in 1961, but the building was rebuilt two years later. It was renamed Epsom United Reformed Church in 1972.

St Joseph's Catholic Church

The Catholic parish of St Joseph, traces its origins to 1859, when the congregation began to meet regularly for mass in the parlour of a house in Stanley Villas. The first permanent church, in Heathcote Road, was completed in 1866 and was constructed of local red brick with Bath stone dressings. It was extended in 1930 and the west end was rebuilt between 1959 and 1961, but by 1996 it had become clear that it was inadequate for the size of the congregation. Land in St Margaret's Drive was purchased from the county council and construction of a new church began in 1999. The old church was demolished in 2000 and its replacement opened in April 2001. The new church was dedicated by Cormac Murphy-O'Connor in May 2001.

Culture

Literature

Epsom Wells, a restoration comedy written by Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642 – 1692), is one of a series of plays set in English spa towns. It received its first performance in 1673 at the Duke's Theatre in London. A revival of the play in the 1690s included new incidental music by the composer, Henry Purcell.

Epsom Downs, a comic play written by Howard Brenton (born 1942), is set at the 1977 Epsom Derby. It received its first performance in 1977 at The Roundhouse in London.

Music

Epsom Choral Society was founded in 1922 by the publisher, Humphrey Milford. His son, the composer Robin Milford was the first conductor. The choir has commissioned works from the British composers Cecilia McDowall and Jonathan Willcocks. Epsom Symphony Orchestra for amateur musicians was founded in 1951 and gives four concerts each year at the Epsom Playhouse. The Epsom & Ewell Silver Band is based in Epsom. It is a traditional British brass band and was founded in 1910 as the Banstead Silver Band.

Paintings

The landscape painter, John Constable (1776–1837), visited Epsom regularly between 1806 and 1812. His works include several depictions of the town, including View at Epsom (1809), held by The Tate. The gallery also owns paintings of horse racing taking place on the Downs, including works by Alfred Munnings (1878–1959) and William Powell Frith (1819–1909). The 1821 Derby at Epsom (1821) by Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) is held by The Louvre. Paintings of Nonsuch Palace, attributed to Hendrick Danckerts (c. 1625–1680), and of the view from Epsom Downs, by William Henry David Birch (1895–1968), are held by Epsom Town Hall.

Public art

A statuette by the Australian sculptor Tom Merrifield was erected outside the Playhouse in 1999. It depicts the dancer, John Gilpin, performing the title role of Le Spectre de la rose from the ballet by Jean-Louis Vaudoyer.

Evocation of Speed, a bronze sculpture by Judy Boyt, was installed at Epsom Square in 2002. It depicts two horses - Diomed, the winner of the first Derby in 1780 and Galileo, the winner of the 2001 race. The depictions of the two riders show how the clothing worn by jockeys has changed over time.

A statue of Emily Davison by the artist Christine Charlesworth, was installed in the marketplace in 2021, following a campaign by volunteers from the Emily Davison Memorial Project.

Theatre

Epsom Playhouse opened in 1984 as part of The Ashley Centre development. It has two performance spaces: The main auditorium seats a maximum of 450. The Myers Studio, which has an octagonal floor plan, seats 80 and is suited to smaller-scale drama, comedy and jazz performances.

Sport

Rainbow Leisure Centre

The current Rainbow Leisure Centre opened in 2003, replacing the original facility which dated from the 1930s. The centre includes swimming pools, two dance studios and a sports hall with four badminton courts. In 2011, a spa facility was added as part of an extensive refurbishment, during which the gym equipment was also upgraded. The centre is managed by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) under their "Better" brand.

Association Football

Epsom & Ewell F.C. traces its origins to the Epsom Juniors Cricket Club, founded in March 1918. A year later the team began to play football and was a founder member of the Sutton & District League in 1920. The team changed its name to Epsom Town F.C. in 1922 and played its home games at the Horton Hospital Sports Ground. The club became Epsom F.C. in 1934 and adopted its current name in 1960. Since the start of the 2020/21 season, the club has been based at Fetcham Grove, the Leatherhead F.C. stadium.

Cricket

The earliest reference to cricket being played in the town is from 1711 and Epsom Cricket Club is thought to have been founded in around 1800. During the early 19th century, matches appear to have taken place on the Downs and also at Stamford Green on Epsom Common. By 1860, the club had established a new ground on Woodcote Road, on land belonging to Edward Richard Northey, and plays its home games there today.

Hockey

Epsom Hockey Club is a field hockey club that competes in the London Hockey League and the South East Hockey League. It is thought to have been founded in around 1900 and was well established by the 1909/10 season. Initially, home games were played at the Court Recreation Ground, but the club established a permanent base in Woodcote Road after the Second World War.

Tennis

Epsom Lawn Tennis Club was founded as a croquet club in the 1850s, based at Woodcote House. By the 1870s, tennis became the more important sport and in 1913 the club had five tennis courts and three croquet courts. The last remaining croquet court was converted to a grass tennis court in 1923.

Other sports

Epsom and Ewell Harriers is a club for track and field athletes, based at the Poole Road Track in Ewell. Epsom Cycling Club was founded in 1891 and is one of the oldest in the country. The club arranges organised rides and regular time trials in the local area. Sutton and Epsom Rugby Football Club was founded in 1881 and their main ground is at Rugby Lane, Cheam.

Notable buildings and landmarks

The Ashley Centre

Construction of The Ashley Centre was proposed in the late 1970s, following concerns that the retail sector of the local economy was in decline. The shopping centre was designed by Humphrey Wood and the building makes extensive use of steel, glass and marble. A multistorey car park and an office block were included in the scheme, in addition to 23,000 m² (250,000 sq ft) of retail space. The centre was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 October 1984 and is named after the adjacent Ashley Road.

Ashley House

Ashley House is named after Mary Ashley, a former resident who lived at the property until 1849. The three-storey, brick townhouse was constructed in the late 1760s and is protected by a Grade II* listing. It features an Adam-style central doorcase with a composite Tower of the Winds and Ionic columns.

Assembly Rooms

The Assembly Rooms building was constructed in around 1692, when the spa was at the height of it popularity. It functioned as a meeting place and included a tavern, coffee house and billiard room. A bowling green and a cockpit, in which fighting cocks were set against each other for sport, were also part of the same complex. Following the decline of the spa in the first half of the 18th century, much of the building was converted to shops and to housing for private families. Since April 2002, the Assembly Rooms has operated as a public house, owned by Wetherspoons.

Clock Tower

The foundation stone for the Clock Tower was laid in November 1847, following the demolition of the watch house which had stood on the site since the 17th century. The 70-foot-tall (21-metre) tower, designed by James Butler and Henry Hodge, is constructed from red and grey brick with ashlar dressings. Initially four lion sculptures made of Caen stone were positioned at each corner of the base, however by 1902 they had been replaced by electric lanterns, which were replaced, in 1920, by the current globe lights. In the same year, the base of the tower was extended to the east and west to provide toilet facilities. Several public events and civic ceremonies have taken place in the area at the base of the tower, including the official granting of the foundation charter of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in September 1937. In March 2023, following many discussions, the clock tower received a full LED lighting upgrade allowing the tower to change colour.

Spread Eagle Walk

The Spread Eagle Walk shopping centre was constructed as a coaching inn in the late 17th century. The main hotel building has two storeys with an attic and basement. The external stucco finish and sash windows are later additions. The distinctive black eagle sculptures above the two porticos are thought to date from the mid-late 19th century. The inn traded as a public house until around 1990, when it closed for renovation. The driveway into the former stables was converted into the main entrance to the shopping centre and in 1994 the main building was occupied by Lester Bowden outfitters, which had been founded by Arthur Bowden at start of the 20th century.

Town Hall

The neo-Georgian Epsom Town Hall, designed by Hubert Moore Fairweather and William Alfred Pite, was opened in March 1934. The building has served as the headquarters of Epsom UDC, Epsom Borough Council and, since 1974, Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. The New Town Hall was opened in 1992 and is connected to the older building by covered walkways.

War memorials

Epsom War Memorial at Epsom Cemetery was erected in 1921 to commemorate the 256 residents of Epsom and Ewell who had died in the First World War. The memorial consists of a Celtic cross in granite and the gates are dedicated to the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, who were billeted in Epsom before the opening of the Woodcote Park camp. Following the end of the Second World War, an additional inscription was added to commemorate those who had died between 1939 and 1945.

The Commonwealth War Graves Memorial was erected in Epsom Cemetery in 1925. It consists of a cross, behind which is a screen wall on which names of 148 Commonwealth soldiers are inscribed. The majority of those commemorated died in the hospitals of the Epsom Cluster.

Woodcote Park

Woodcote Park was created as a hunting park in the mid-12th century by the abbot of Chertsey Abbey. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-16th century, the park was briefly held by Sir Nicholas Carew, before being annexed to the Honour of Hampton Court. In the mid-17th century, the land was inherited by Elizabeth Mynne, wife of Richard Evelyn, for whom the first mansion house was constructed. The building included decorative features by the sculptor, Grinling Gibbons, and a ceiling by the painter, Antonio Verrio. In 1715, the estate was inherited by Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, who commissioned Isaac Ware to rebuild the mansion in the French Rococo Revival style. Some of the features of the original house were reused, including the Verrio ceiling. Shortly before his death, Calvert engaged John Vardy to design a Palladian stone frontage.

Following long periods of ownership by the Tessier and Brooks families during the 19th century, the Royal Automobile Club (R.A.C.) purchased Woodcote Park in 1913. Many of the historic interiors were not required by the R.A.C. and were removed and sold at auction. In 1927, wood panelling and other decorations in the style of Thomas Chippendale, from one of the drawing rooms, were installed in the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston, Massachusetts. The mansion was destroyed by fire in August 1934, but within two years had been rebuilt with an identical exterior appearance. Today the 350-acre (140 ha) site features two 18-hole golf courses, sports and spa facilities, as well as restaurants and guest accommodation. The club also houses a fleet of heritage motor vehicles, owned by the R.A.C.

Parks and open spaces

Epsom Common

During the medieval period, Epsom Common was the manorial waste land and, in the 12th century, the monks of Chertsey Abbey built the Great Pond to rear fish. The first cottages had been built around the edges of the common by 1679 and by the mid-18th century there were over 30, mostly on the land around Stamford Green. The Common was purchased by Epsom Urban District Council (UDC) in 1935 and its successor body, the Borough Council, continues to own and manage it today. Together with the adjacent Ashtead Common, Epsom Common comprises a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is a Local Nature Reserve. The 176-hectare (430-acre) site has a range of distinctive habitats and is a breeding ground for 59 bird species.

Epsom Downs

Epsom Downs and the neighbouring Walton Downs are to the south east of the town and together comprise 240 hectares (600 acres) of chalk downland. The Downs are owned by Epsom Racecourse and are managed by a board of Conservators under the framework of the Epsom and Walton Downs Regulation Act 1984. A number of rare plants are present, including round-headed rampion, bastard-toadflax and chalk hill eyebright. The area provides a habitat for bird species including the Eurasian skylark. Since 2013, Epsom Downs has been a Site of Nature Conservation Importance.

Horton Country Park

Horton Country Park was created in 1973 from two farms belonging to the Epsom Cluster of psychiatric hospitals and is owned and managed by the Borough Council. Around 152 hectares (380 acres) have been designated a Local Nature Reserve in 2004. The country park includes areas of ancient woodland and provides a habitat for a wide range of mammal, bird and insect species including the green woodpecker and roe deer. It also contains a golf course, equestrian centre and a children's farm.

Mounthill Gardens and Rosebery Park

Mounthill Gardens, south west of the town centre, was formed from the grounds of two adjacent houses, both purchased by Epsom UDC in 1950. The smaller house, Rosebank, had been bombed during the Second World War and was subsequently demolished by the council. The larger house, Mounthill, was used as offices for a time, before it too was demolished. The two hectares (5 acres) of steeply sloping land surrounding the two buildings was converted into a public park that opened in 1965.

Rosebery Park, to the south of the town centre, was presented to Epsom UDC in 1913 by Lord Rosebery as "proof of [his] deep and abiding affection" for the town. Rosebery's wish was for the creation of "a public pleasure ground for the resort and recreation of the inhabitants of Epsom." Work to create the formal areas of the park had begun by the outbreak of the First World War, including the enlargement of an existing pond to create the lake. Non-landscaped areas were converted into allotments during the two world wars. Today the 4.5-hectare (11-acre) park is owned and managed by the Borough Council.

Recreation grounds

Alexandra Recreation Ground was opened in 1901 on land previously owned by Chertsey Abbey. The land was purchased by Epsom UDC in response to a public petition and was intended for local residents to use for sporting activities. During WWI, the football pitches were ploughed and the land was used to grow potatoes. An adjacent chalk pit was filled in 1933 and is now the site of the children's playground.

The Court Recreation Ground, to the north of the town centre, is the largest recreation ground in the borough. The land was acquired between 1924 and 1926 and a bowling green was created in 1934. The ground has an artificial turf sports pitch, five football pitches and three tennis courts.

Notable residents

• Sally Mapp (c. 1706–1737) bonesetter
• John Parkhurst (1728–1797) academic, clergyman and lexicographer – lived in Epsom and is commemorated in a memorial by John Flaxman in St Martin's Church.
• Jonathan Boucher (1738–1804) clergyman, teacher, philologist – was vicar of Epsom from 1784 until his death.
• Isabella Beeton (1836–1865) (Mrs Beeton) journalist, editor, writer - lived in Epsom for much of her childhood.
• Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847–1929) Prime Minister and Liberal Party MP – lived at The Durdans to the south of the town.
• General Sir Charles Grant (1877–1950), senior military officer, son-in-law of Lord Rosebery – died at The Durdans.
• James Chuter Ede (1882–1965) Home Secretary and Labour Party MP – was the first mayor of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell.
• Norman Wisdom (1915–2010) actor, comedian, singer-songwriter
• Frank Hampson (1918–1985) cartoonist and illustrator – worked at studios in College Road.
• John Challis (1942–2021) actor, most famous for portraying Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom Only Fools and Horses, was raised in Epsom.
• Jimmy Page (b. 1944) musician and record producer – spent his formative years at Epsom, where he learned to play the guitar.
• Dame Cheryl Gillan (1952-2021), Conservative politician, Secretary of State for Wales 2010-2012, lived in Epsom shortly before her death.
• Jimmy White (b. 1962) snooker player
• Warwick Davis (b. 1970) actor, comedian – born in Epsom and attended Laine Theatre Arts
• Andrew Garfield (b. 1983) actor
• Joe Wicks (b. 1985) fitness coach, TV presenter, social media personality and author – born and educated in Epsom.

See also

In Spanish: Epsom para niños