Epsom and Ewell

Epsom and Ewell

Epsom and Ewell, also spelled Epsom & Ewell, borough (district), administrative and historic county of Surrey, England. It is located at the foot of the North Downs, on the southwestern periphery of Greater London. The borough comprises three main conurbations: Epsom, Ewell, and Stoneleigh. The town of Epsom is the administrative centre.

Dating from Saxon times, the name Epsom is derived from Ebba’s ham or Ebbi’s ham, meaning the estate or home of a landowner named Ebb, Ebbi, Ebbe, or Ebba. The name Ewell derives from Old English aewielle, meaning a spring at the head of a river or river source. The area became important with the discovery (c. 1618) of magnesium sulfate-rich mineral springs there (from which Epsom salts were named). Stoneleigh, which was developed from farm fields and woods in the 1930s, took its name from the Stone family, which had owned the land, and from a mansion that had been located on their property.

In 1538, under the aegis of Henry VIII, construction began to the east of Ewell on Nonsuch Palace and its associated hunting grounds. The creation of that elaborate hunting lodge required the removal of the medieval village of Cuddington and its church. By 1690, after having been owned by several members of the royal family, the palace had been completely dismantled by a mistress of Charles II, Barbara Villers, duchess of Cleveland, who sold its raw materials to pay off her gambling debts. The original hunting grounds comprised Great Park, now the suburban area of Worcester Park and Stoneleigh, and Little Park, much of which survived as open space that is now called Nonsuch Park.

Bourne Hall (1970), a modern building that serves as a venue for a wide variety of events, is situated in a park (formerly the grounds of an 18th-century mansion house) in the heart of Ewell. It overlooks the source of the River Hogsmill, now an ornamental lake, and houses the Bourne Hall Museum, a local history museum. The Epsom Playhouse, which opened in 1984, hosts an eclectic mix of opera, drama, ballet, and musical performances.

Although Epsom and Ewell is densely populated, more than two-fifths of the borough is designated as a green belt. In addition to the 436-acre (176-hectare) Epsom Common Local Nature Reserve, which is home to wildlife and insects of international significance, the borough has 11 sites designated as being of “nature conservation importance.”

Among the borough’s many educational institutions are the Epsom campus of the University for the Creative Arts; Laine Theatre Arts, which specializes in training for musical theatre; Epsom College, a prominent independent school; and North East Surrey College of Technology (Nescot), which includes the Surrey Institute of Osteopathic Medicine.

Horse racing on Epsom Downs dates to the 17th century, during the period of the English Civil Wars. Indeed, the area is probably best known for the Derby, first run officially in 1780 and named for Edward Stanley, the 12th earl of Derby (who, according to legend, won that honour in a coin toss with another of the race’s cofounders, Sir Charles Bunbury). The Derby takes place in the first week of June and is the most prestigious of the five English Classics.

The list of notable people who were born or raised in or who resided in the borough includes the prime minister Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th earl of Rosebery, illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, landscape painter John Constable, Pre-Raphaelite artist James Colllinson, novelist H.G. Wells, playwrights Michael Frayn and John Osbourne, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, and singer Petula Clark.

Area 13 square miles (34 square km). Pop. (2001) 67,059; (2011) 75,102.