2nd April 2003 - Charles Abdy a member of Probus Club of Ewell
Charles presented a block buster presentation supported by excellent slides of past and present Epsom, he covered a wide range of topics from buildings historic to common. The slides also covered the past famous residents and maps of long past time. This report cannot do justice to his talk, and Charles would be delighted if you could purchase his books to supplement this poor report. To assist you in treading down this purchase path following is some extracts from his books, but do obtain the full documents and study at your leisure.
Needless to stay the vote of thanks for his presentation was very glowing from a member with a long history of Epsom, likewise the applause was long and generous, well done Charles.
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 Doomsday 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 name of Epsom derives from Ebbi's ham, Ebbi being a Saxon lady about whom nothing is known. 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 Epsom Clock tower (left) is a central feature of the modern day Epsom, although the village pond has been filled and replaced by a paved pedestrian area used for markets and other functions. There is a small debate whether the existing yew trees are some of the originals that used to skirt the pond.
Some country houses were built in the 1500's. In the early 1600's, the therapeutic powers of the well on the common became known (some say because the cows refused to drink it!). Visitors flocked to take the waters, and, since they needed entertainment, a number of fine mansions and the Assembly Rooms were built, hotels and lodging houses were opened, all kinds of shops were opened, and bowling greens and other leisure pursuits were provided.
"We make our buildings, and then they make us".
Epsom was a tiny rural village, much smaller than its important neighbour Ewell, before the discovery, in about 1618, that the water was rich in 'Epsom Salts'! A well was established on the common and Epsom Spa began. The Civil War disrupted growth but it was given a tremendous boost by the restoration of Charles II in 1660. In the relaxed atmosphere of the time visitors came for entertainment as well as their health -among them Nell Gwyn and Samuel Pepys. Assembly Rooms were built, while wealthy visitors built large properties in the town, so that it has more late Stuart, Queen Anne, and Georgian houses than any other place in Surrey.
From its early days as a manor of Chertsey Abbey through to the most modem times, Charles provided a comprehensive and compelling account of the entire past of this fascinating town, he understandably concentrated on the town's spa period and later. The influx of wealth in the late 17th century and the associated building boom, which included the construction of the Assembly Rooms. A century later showed a Dickensian scenario for it not only records endeavours to alleviate poverty, but also conflicts of conscience when considering the propriety of 'selling' children who lived in the workhouse for work in a factory.
The slide illustrations of maps etc. showed the development of the town and the impact of the railways. And when we heard that in the early 19th century a coach service to London took over two hours - perhaps rail transport has improved?
In the mid 1800s, an enquiry reported that life expectancy in the town had gone down from 44 to 40 years due to 'poor sanitary conditions' and called for sewers and pure water, an issue that had to wait some years before solution!
The history on old buildings presented a story of attrition caused by a variety of reasons, including accident and dubious profit making schemes. The recent losses range in quality and included Woodcote Park (1934), Pitt Place (1967), and, in the High Street, the Kings Head (1957).
Charles provided an insight into a town close to London with unusual qualities: a Spa in the late 17th to early 18th centuries, followed by decline and resurgence as a home for horse racing (the Queens Stand shown left) and as part of the London commuter belt.
Those of us fortunate enough to live or work in the area probably take much of our built environment for granted, forgetting all the myriad ambitions, forces, and chances which contributed to the very interesting historic areas of our community. And probably equally unconscious of the continuing effort put in by building owners and the borough council to preserve and enhance the buildings we have been fortunate to have handed down to us from the past. The role of the Borough Council as planning authority is crucial here, and it is exercised through the national framework of planning controls, and in particular through the designation of Conservation Areas, for which very specific policy guidelines are in force.
