Epsom

Related Topics:
Epsom_and_Ewell :: Epsom

See also Epsom, New Hampshire and Epsom, New Zealand. For the chemical compound see Magnesium sulfate

Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, to the south of Greater London.

The town is located 18 miles south-south-west of Charing Cross, and forms part of the suburbia that surrounds London.

History

The name of Epsom derives from Ebbi's ham. Ebbi 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. 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.

The British Prime Minister and first chairman of the London County Council, Lord Rosebery, was sent down (expelled) from the University of Oxford 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, memorialised in the names of Rosebery Park and Rosebery School.

Historically, Epsom was known as a spa town, although there is little to see nowadays. A housing estate has now been built upon the wells.

Hospitals

Epsom was also known for having a large number of lunatic asylums, although only one remains (St. Ebba's Hospital). Before the closure of such hospitals in the 1980s and 1990s, there were five lunatic asylums in the area, known as the 'Epsom Cluster'.

These were (in order of date of build):

Manor Hospital (1899)
St. Ebba's Hospital(1903)
Horton Hospital (1902)
Long Grove Hospital (1907, an exact duplicate of Horton Hospital to save construction time)
West Park Hospital (construction started 1912, opened in 1921)

These were all built in very close proximity to each other on a 1096-acre site on the Epsom Downs, which the London County Council bought to rapidly solve the overcrowding problems in its other hopsitals. Some of these hospitals (Horton and Manor especially) were built quickly and on limited budgets, and were identical in layout to other asylums designed by the architects G.T.Hine and William Clifford-Smith who were employed by the LCC. Of the asylums that have closed, 1 stands empty and disused (West Park), 2 have been converted into housing (Horton and Long Grove Hospital ) and 2 have been demolished (Sherwood and Manor Hospitals)These were formerly served by the Horton Light Railway. These days Horton Country Park is home to the [http://www.hortonpark.co.uk/ Horton Park Children's Farm.

Town

Thanks in part 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 the British television programme Location, Location, Location as the most desirable place to live in the United Kingdom.

Parts of the high street were pedestrianised in the 1980's, around the same time as the Ashley Shopping Centre was built, as was the town's large one-way system. In the 1990's a large multiplex Odeon cinema, was built in Upper High Street.

The late 1990's saw a growth in number of pubs/bars in the town centre including a Casa, Yates, Weatherspoons and Chicago Rock cafe.

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

The art school, the University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester, has one of five outposts in Epsom.

Local area

Epsom and Ewell Borough

Ewell
Epsom Downs - The "downs" referred to in the name are a part of the North Downs.
Langley Vale
Stoneleigh
West Ewell

Out of Borough

Local leisure

Rainbow Leisure Centre
Nonsuch Park, former site of Nonsuch Palace
Pre-Raphaelite Walk
The Epsom Derby
Bourne Hall Museum
Hogsmill River
7th EpsomScout Group
Football-Mundial Epsom Premiership. Five-a-side football League.
Epsom Playhouse

Transport

Rail

Epsom railway station has frequent rail services to London (running to both Waterloo and Victoria), and also to Leatherhead, Dorking, Guildford, Horsham and Croydon.

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

Road

The A24 passes through the centre of the town.

Education

Blenheim High School
Epsom College
Glyn Technology School
Kingswood House School
Rosebery Girls' School
St. Christopher's School
Epsom & Ewell High School

Local government

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council

Surrey County Council

Emergency services

Epsom is served by these emergency services.

Surrey Police
South East Coast Ambulance Service as of 1st July 2006. The Surrey Ambulance Service, Sussex, and Kent Ambulance services have all merged, and have now ceased to exist.
Surrey Fire & Rescue Service
General Hospital with A&E. Various other cottage hospitals and mental institutes.