Ewell ( , ) is a suburban area with a village centre in the

borough of Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It w ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, approximately south of

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

and northeast of

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about 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 ...

. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of which (73%) is in the ABC1 social class, except the Ruxley Ward that is C2DE. Ewell was founded as a spring line settlement, where the permeable

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. C ...

of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills ...

meets the impermeable

London Clay The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from ...

, and the Hogsmill River (a tributary of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

) still rises at a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

close to Bourne Hall in the village centre. Recorded in

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as ''Etwelle'', the settlement was granted a licence to hold a market in 1618. The opening of railway stations to the

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

west West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

of the centre, in 1847 and 1859 respectively, facilitated the creation of extensive residential areas, which are now contiguous with the Greater London suburbs.

History

The name ''Ewell'' derives from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

''æwell'', which means ''river source'' or

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

remains have been found in Ewell and the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

are likely to have encountered an existing religious site when they first arrived leaving pottery, bones, and a few other remains, which have been taken to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Ewell is on a long line of spring line settlements founded along the foot of hills on a geological line between the chalk of the

to the south, and the clay of the

London Basin The London Basin is an elongated, roughly triangular sedimentary basin approximately long which underlies London and a large area of south east England, south eastern East Anglia and the adjacent North Sea. The basin formed as a result of compre ...

to the north. The

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

Stane Street from

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

deviates from straight slightly at Ewell to pass by the central spring. Its successor, the A24 (London Road) runs from Merton to Ewell along the course of the Roman road, and leaves Ewell also with a by-pass connecting it to Epsom. Ewell was traditionally located within the

Copthorne hundred Copthorne was a hundred of Surrey, England, an area above the level of the parishes and manors, where the local wise, wealthy and powerful met periodically in Anglo-Saxon England for strategic purposes. After the Norman Conquest the lords of the ...

. Ewell appears in

of 1086 as ''Etwelle''. It was held by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

. Its assets were: 13½ hides; 2

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

s worth 10s, 16

plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

s, of

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

and herbage worth 111 hogs. It rendered £25 per year to its

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

overlords; also £1 from the church in

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

, it was held by Osbert de Ow and was attached to his manor. In the 13th century ''Ewell'' current spelling appears, in the

Testa de Nevill The ''Book of Fees'' is the colloquial title of a modern edition, transcript, rearrangement and enhancement of the medieval (Latin: 'Book of Fiefs'), being a listing of feudal landholdings or fief (Middle English ), compiled in about 1302, but f ...

. King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

established here in 1538

Nonsuch Palace Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor royal palace, built by Henry VIII in Surrey, England; it stood from 1538 to 1682–83. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundaries of the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey and the London B ...

on the borders of

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, south-west of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to ...

, considered one of his greatest building projects. The estate, now

Nonsuch Park Nonsuch Park is a public park between Stoneleigh, Cheam, and Ewell in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. It is adjacent to the boundary of the London Borough of Sutton. It is the last surviving part of the Little Park of Nons ...

, a public park, was one of his favourite hunting grounds, although no trace of the palace remains, having been destroyed during the 17th century. In the same park, is

Nonsuch Mansion Nonsuch Mansion is an historic house located within Nonsuch Park in north Surrey, England near the boundary with Greater London. It is in the borough of Epsom and Ewell, adjacent to the London Borough of Sutton. It has been Listed building#Englan ...

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

18th-century house occasionally open to visitors. In 1618 Henry Lloyd, lord of the manor, was granted licence to hold a market in Ewell. The market died away in the early 19th century.

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

visited Ewell on numerous occasions in the 17th century and the area is mentioned several times between 1663 and 1665 in his diary, in which he spells it ''Yowell''. The

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

(privatisation) of its common fields of in the east and its infertile land ('

waste Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste pr ...

') of was carried out in 1801. In 1811 a National School was established sponsored by Mr. White and Mr. Brumfield. Thomas Calverley built the large architecturally listed home ''Ewell Castle'' in 1814 in an imitation castellated style and gave the school financial benefaction, which became available in 1860. In 1879 Ewell Court House, latterly a library was built with a grotto that survives. Ewell was largely developed woth semi detached housing in the 1930s, with a minority of the Ewell area built on after

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In the 1980s, an elderly lifelong resident of Ewell, named Digeance, recalled the pasture land and orchards that stretched north and west right across to

Berrylands Berrylands is a residential neighbourhood in Surbiton, London, originally forming part of the Municipal Borough of Surbiton, and since 1965 part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. It is a suburban development situated south west o ...

in the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs ...

. This radical transformation is documented in the photography collected in the book ''Archive Photos – Epsom and Ewell''. The suburban residential development across that area is mainly 1930s/40s semi-detached houses, although some Edwardian, Victorian and earlier architecture is still present. The Hogsmill Open Space gives an indication of Ewell's rural prewar history.

Government and politics

The town lies entirely within the parliamentary constituency of

Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was ...

, and is currently represented in

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Chris Grayling Christopher Stephen Grayling (born 1 April 1962) is a British Conservative Party politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 to 2019. He has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Epsom and Ewell since 2001. ...

Landmarks

Bourne Hall

Ewell's largest landmark is Bourne Hall in the centre of the town. It is a

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

circular structure with a central glass dome, built in 1967–70 to a design by A. G. Sheppard Fidler and Associates. The building, which is reminiscent of an immense flying saucer, houses a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundamen ...

, subterranean theatre, gymnasium, café and local museum, and holds gatherings such as fairs,

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

and

karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

lessons. It was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

in 2015 for reasons of architectural interest and also for historic interest as "an ambitious example of the expansion of the library service and the integration of community facilities and disabled access". Bourne Hall is surrounded by a stream-side public park with a pond at one end and a fountain; these were formerly the grounds of Garbrand Hall, an 18th-century mansion, later used as a school and also called Bourne Hall, which the new building replaced. The garden wall, a 19th-century entrance arch to the gardens, the nearby lodge, and an 18th-century bridge inside the gateway were Grade II listed in 1954 and a waterwheel in 1976.

St Mary's Church

Ewell has a

C of E The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

( Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell), which was designed by Henry Clutton and consecrated in 1848. The current building stands in a prominent position near the centre of the village on the old London Road. A replacement for an earlier church building on the site, it was built in a form of the Decorated Neo-Gothic style and faced with

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civi ...

stone with

Bath Stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

mullions and tracery. The church is home to the 1889 'Father' Henry Willis

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...

. The ruins of the old church's early medieval tower stand alone in parkland and are a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Other Landmarks

St Paul's Howell Hill is situated in East Ewell and is known locally due to its prominent presence on a roundabout and its contemporary design. Unlike most parts of its borough, Ewell has telephone numbers using the London 020 area code, alongside Stoneleigh . Ewell also has an unusually large telephone exchange, beside ''The Spring'' pub, fitted with underground facilities designed to survive a nuclear conflict during the later years of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. It was transferred in 2000 from the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

, in whose district it had been placed since 1839, to the jurisdiction of

Surrey Police Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in South East England. The force is currently led by Chief Constable Gavin Stephens. Previously the force was led by Nick Ephgrave who left the force t ...

Economy

Ewell's commercial centre, the High Street is 400 metres long and contains two chain convenience stores, Sainsbury's Local and Nisa (formerly Co-op), in addition to a post office. There are no longer any banks in Ewell. The Green Man public house is located on the High Street, with three other pubs: The Eight Bells, The Wheatsheaf and the Spring located nearby on Kingston Road in the north of the Village.

Neighbourhoods

Ewell Village

The central, historic centre of Ewell containing the High Street, Bourne Hall, Ewell Castle School and immediate surrounding areas.

Ewell Court

Ewell Court is a residential area and ward to the northwest of Ewell Village. In the centre of the area is Ewell Court Park, which contains Ewell Court House and Ewell Court Lake. The volunteer-run Ewell Court Library is inside Ewell Court House. A large portion of The Hogsmill Open Space, a local nature reserve is in this area, from the railway line near Ewell Village to Ruxley Lane. This contains several tributaries of the Hogsmill River, including the confluence with the Horton Stream near Ruxley Lane. Ewell Court is bounded to the northeast by the A240 (Kingston Road).

West Ewell

West Ewell is a large residential area with several local centres. Its main centre is the area around Ewell West railway station, which contains a parade of shops. Its principal roads are Chessington Road and Ruxley Lane. These are both B-roads which contain several parades of shops. A section of the Hogsmill Open Space, including the Bonesgate Stream is in the northern fringes of the area. Ruxley Farm Bridge is in the centre of Ruxley Lane over the Hogsmill River, replacing a ford, Ruxley Splash. West Ewell is served by buses travelling between Epsom and Kingston, as well as Chessington. West Ewell covers two wards: West Ewell Ward, to the south of Ruxley Lane and Ruxley Ward, to the north.

East Ewell

This is an area of predominantly semi-detached housing dating from the 1930s. This area, to the east of the A24 Ewell Bypass is served by Ewell East railway station. The A232 runs through the suburban area. A large part of Nonsuch Park, including the old Nonsuch Palace, can be found in East Ewell as can the remains of the derelict Cuddington Church. Warren Farm Local Nature Reserve is also in the East Ewell area.

Ewell Downs

An area of detached housing with several private roads. Located in the south of Ewell, between the centre and Epsom Downs

Surrounding Area

Education

Ewell Castle School, Church Street - geograph

Closest to the town are at senior (secondary) level: *private day school Ewell Castle School, on Church Street, Ewell Village *boys (Mixed in Sixth Form) Academy

Glyn School Glyn School is a boys' comprehensive secondary school – with a co-educational sixth form – in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in the English county of Surrey. History The school was originally called Epsom County Grammar School for Boys, ...

, on The Kingsway, just west of Ewell Village *mixed comprehensive school Blenheim High School, Longmead Road, between West Ewell and Epsom. *mixed comprehensive school

Epsom and Ewell High School Epsom and Ewell High School is a secondary school located at Ruxley Lane, Epsom, Surrey, England that opened in 1989. It is a coeducational, academy that educates children from ages 11–18, with over 900 on the roll. It is situated in the bor ...

on Ruxley Lane, West Ewell At further education level: * North East Surrey College of Technology, East Ewell. For the wider list of all schools in the borough, see

Parks and Open Spaces

Nonsuch Park

A historic park to the east of Ewell Village, extending into Stoneleigh and Cheam. Former site of 16th Century Nonsuch Palace, current site of Nonsuch Mansion. Home to Nonsuch parkrun, a free weekly 5 kilometre run.

Warren Farm

A local nature reserve in East Ewell owned by the Woodland Trust. Heathland bordered by woodland. Located adjacent to Nonsuch Park and Nonsuch High School.

Hogsmill Open Space

An extensive wildlife corridor, stretching from the Hogsmill source in Ewell Village and extending downstream along the course of the river. This stretches north-west through Ewell Court and West Ewell, extending out to Kingston. Contains three enclosed parks, including Bourne Hall (detailed above in the Landmarks section) and:

Ewell Court Park

An enclosed area incorporating Ewell Court lake and Ewell Court House (with a cafe) . The house was restored after the 2014 fire. The Ewell Court stream flows into the main Hogsmill River on the edge of the park. The Hogmsill acts as a natural park boundary, with fences containing pedestrian gates around the rest of the perimeter.

Poole Road Recreation Ground

An area of green space containing a playground and two grass football pitches. The Harrier Centre can be found there, containing Ewell Athletics Track, home to Epsom and Ewell Harriers Athletics club. Found in 1890 (the oldest in Surrey), the club have trained at this track since the 1950s. Gauntlett Boxing Club have trained at the Harrier Centre since 2017

Priest Hill Local Nature Reserve

Located in East Ewell, near to the A240.

London Road Recreation Ground

A small park on the northern edge of Ewell Village, containing a large playground and 2.3 hectares of open space

Gibraltar Recreation Ground

A park just west of Ewell Village, next to Ewell West railway station. Contains a bowling green, tennis courts, football pitches and a large playground. Ewell Tennis Club are based next to the Rec.

Sports, recreation and leisure

In Ewell Court, there is a King George's Field in memorial to

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

. Also at the King George's Field, there is Ewell Athletics Track, a

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The org ...

Class B track where Epsom and Ewell Harriers , founded in 1890, have trained since the 1950s. The Harrier Centre, a small sports centre also containing a children's soft play area, was built as an addition to the athletics track in 2000. Ewell Tennis Club is also in the Ewell, on the western edge of Ewell Village. 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

baldric A baldric (also baldrick, bawdrick, bauldrick as well as other rare or obsolete variations) is a belt worn over one shoulder that is typically used to carry a weapon (usually a sword) or other implement such as a bugle or drum. The word ma ...

s and ribbons. Ewell is on the

London Outer Orbital Path The London Outer Orbital Path — more usually the "London LOOP" — is a 150-mile (242 km) signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as "the M ...

(London Loop) walking route. The path heads through South Cheam into Warren Farm and Nonsuch Park via East Ewell, before crossing into Ewell Village passing Ewell Castle School. It passes through Bourne Hall (at the main source of the Hogsmill River) before heading along the Hogsmill Open Space past the Kingston borough border.

Transport

Ewell is served by two railway stations:

Ewell West Ewell West railway station is one of two stations in Ewell (in the Epsom and Ewell district) in Surrey, England. The station is served by South Western Railway. It is down the line from . From 1905 to 1950 there was a connection to the Horto ...

, which has services towards

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station o ...

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughl ...

and

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, and Ewell East, which has services towards

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Q ...

, Dorking and

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. Both stations are in TfL Fare Zone 6. Bus services in Ewell include the 293,

406 __NOTOC__ Year 406 ( CDVI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Arcadius and Probus (or, less frequently, year 1159 ''Ab u ...

418 __NOTOC__ Year 418 ( CDXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius (or, less frequently, year 117 ...

467 __NOTOC__ Year 467 ( CDLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 467th Year of the Common Era ( CE) and Anno Domini ( AD) designations, the 467th year of the 1st millennium, t ...

, 470, E5 and E16 providing links to

Morden Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester ...

Kingston Upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

and

Chessington Chessington is an area in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames within Greater London. Historically part of Surrey, today it is the largest salient of Greater London into that county. At the 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. The ...

Demography and housing

In art

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...

artist

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism ...

married and produced several artistically and conceptually outstanding works here. The doorway linking St Mary's church yard and the grounds of Glyn House reproduced as the door on which Christ is knocking is arguably his most praised painting, '' The Light of the World''. Similarly, the background for

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

' oil on canvas ''Ophelia'' was painted at Ewell.

In film, fiction and the media

In August 2005 the borough of

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''; the following year's edition figured it in 8th place. The borough's low crime rate, good education results and large number of open spaces were all cited as its particularly attractive features, although being less commercial than the centres of Kingston or London, having a relative 'lack of entertainment facilities'.

Notable residents

Popular singer

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

was born in Ewell in 1932, as well as the broadcaster

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: '' Frankenstein'' (1931), '' The ...

, and TV presenter

Michaela Strachan Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan (born 7 April 1966) is an English television presenter and singer. Early life Born in Ewell, Surrey, Strachan grew up in Hinchley Wood and attended Chadsworth Stage School, then Claremont Fan Court School, both in ...

. Playwright

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play '' Look Back in Anger'' tr ...

lived in Ewell as a boy.

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce '' Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as '' Towards the End of the M ...

, author and playwright, lived as a child in Hillside Road, off Queensmead Avenue, East Ewell. In sport, footballer Ron Harris lived in Ewell during the 1970s, cyclist

Sean Yates Sean Yates (born 18 May 1960) is an English former professional cyclist and directeur sportif. Career Yates competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics, finishing sixth in the 4,000m individual pursuit. As an amateur in 1980, he won the British 25-mi ...

in childhood, Trevor "Tosh" Chamberlain lived in the town, and Michael "Venom" Page was a former resident.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

{{Authority control *Ewell Villages in Surrey