Ewell ( , ) is a town in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England, south of

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

and northeast of

Epsom Epsom is a town in 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 Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 34,872. The majority (73%) was in the ABC1 social class, except the Ruxley Ward that is C2DE. Ewell was founded as a

spring line settlement Spring line settlements occur where a ridge of permeable rock lies over impermeable rock, resulting in a line of springs along the contact between the two layers. Spring line (or springline) settlements will sometimes form around these springs, ...

, 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. Ch ...

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 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...

meets the impermeable

London Clay The London Clay Formation is a Sediment#Shores and shallow seas, marine formation (geology), geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 54-50 million years ago) age which outcrop, crops out in the southeast of England. The London C ...

, and the

Hogsmill River The Hogsmill River in Surrey and Greater London, England, is a small chalk stream tributary of the River Thames. It rises in Ewell and flows into the Thames at Kingston upon Thames on the lowest non-tidal reach, that above Teddington Lock. ...

(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, s ...

) 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 he ...

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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Etwelle'', the settlement was granted a

market charter A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

to hold a market in 1618. The town is contiguous with the Greater London suburbs.

History

The name ''Ewell'' derives from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

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

. The second half of the name of the village of

Temple Ewell Temple Ewell is a civil parish and historic village in the county of Kent, England. The village is part of the Dover district of Kent, and forms part of the Dover urban area. It is situated three miles North West of the town of Dover. Situa ...

in Kent has the same meaning.

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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 Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. Ewell is on a long line of

s 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 compr ...

to the north. The

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

Stane Street Stane Street is the modern name of the Roman road in southern England that linked ''Londinium'' (London) to ''Noviomagus Reginorum'' (Chichester). The exact date of construction is uncertain; however, on the basis of archaeological artefacts ...

from

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

deviates from straight slightly at Ewell to pass by the central spring. Its successor, the

A24 A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan. The company ...

(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 the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

. Its assets were: 13½

hide Hide or hides may refer to: Common uses * Hide (skin), the cured skin of an animal * Bird hide, a structure for observing birds and other wildlife without causing disturbance * Gamekeeper's hide or hunting hide or hunting blind, a structure to hi ...

s; 2

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

s worth 10s, 16

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

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 they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), 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 sunli ...

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

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

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-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

, 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') which is a listing of feudal landholdings or fief (Middle English ), compiled in about 1302, bu ...

. 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 known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

established here in 1538

Nonsuch Palace Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor architecture, Tudor royal family, royal palace, commissioned by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII in Surrey, England, and on which work began in 1538. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundary of the ...

on the borders of

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, southwest 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 t ...

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

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

, 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 a 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 is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

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 writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

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 traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

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

waste Waste 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 Value (economics), economic value. A wast ...

') 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 with 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisin ...

. 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 is part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. It is a suburban development situated south wes ...

in the

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

. 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

There are two tiers of local government covering Ewell, at

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

level: Epsom and Ewell Borough Council, based in

, and

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Surrey, England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1974 the Conservative Party has held the majority. The leader ...

, based in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

. Ewell was an

ancient parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

. When elected parish and district councils were established in 1894 it was given a parish council and included in the Epsom Rural District. In 1933 the parish was absorbed into the neighbouring

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

of Epsom, at which point the parish council was disbanded, with the parish thereafter being an

urban parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

with no council of its own. The following year the urban district was renamed "Epsom and Ewell" in recognition of Ewell's inclusion. The urban district was made a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1937. In 1951 the parish had a population of 25,762. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished. The town lies entirely within the parliamentary constituency of

Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough lies just outside the administrative boundary of Greater London, but it is entirely within the M25 moto ...

, 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: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

Helen Maguire.

Landmarks

Bourne Hall

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

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

circular structure with a central glass dome, built in 1967–70 to a design by A. G. Sheppard Fidler and Associates. The building houses a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...

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

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

and

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

lessons. It was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

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 C, or c, is the third letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C ...

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

( Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell), which was designed by

Henry Clutton Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , was an English architect and designer. Life Henry Clutton was born on 19 March 1819, the son of Owen and Elizabeth Goodinge Clutton. He studied with Edwa ...

and consecrated in 1848. The current building stands in a prominent position near the centre of the town on 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, Dorset, Dorchester. In the Unit ...

stone with

Bath Stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

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 pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

. 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, visu ...

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

020 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...

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 was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. It was transferred in 2000 from the Metropolitan Police, 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 Counties of England, county of Surrey in South East England. The force is currently led by Chief Constable Tim De Meyer. The force has its headquarters at Mount Brown ...

Economy

Ewell's town centre is the long High Street which contains two chain convenience stores, Sainsbury's Local and Co-op, in addition to a post office. There are no longer any banks in Ewell. The Green Man and the Ewell Tap public houses are 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 town.

Neighbourhoods

Ewell Town

The central, historic centre of Ewell containing the High Street, St Mary's, 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

, 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 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

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 school, comprehensive secondary school – with a Mixed-sex education, co-educational sixth form – in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in the English county of Surrey. History The school was originally calle ...

, on The Kingsway, just west of Ewell Village *mixed comprehensive school

Blenheim High School Blenheim High School is a secondary school located at Longmead Road, Epsom, Surrey, England, that opened in 1997. It is a coeducational, publicly funded academy that educates children from ages 11–18, with 1,350 pupils on roll. Academic stand ...

, Longmead Road, between West Ewell and Epsom. *mixed comprehensive school

Epsom and Ewell High School Epsom is a town in 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 Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

on Ruxley Lane, West Ewell At further education level: *

North East Surrey College of Technology The North East Surrey College Of Technology (NESCOT) is a large further education and higher education college in Epsom and Ewell, Surrey, England that began as Ewell Technical College in the 1950s. Facilities Nescot has specialist practical fac ...

, East Ewell. For the wider list of all schools in the borough, see

borough of Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough lies just outside the administrative boundary of Greater London, but it is entirely within the M25 motor ...

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.

Warren Farm

A local nature reserve in East Ewell owned by the Woodland Trust. 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.

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. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

. 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 (sport), 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 o ...

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 on the western edge of Ewell Village. Ewell Cricket Club is situated at 27 Ruxley Lane. There are two cricket squares and a licensed clubhouse. They currently compete within the Surrey Championship and the Surrey County League as well as providing friendly cricket on Sundays and have a thriving Junior Cricket Section. The Under 14s were Surrey Junior Cricket Championship Central Division winners in 2022. 2022 also saw the club celebrate their centenary year. Ewell is also home to Ewell St Mary's

Morris Men Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins, their shoes or both. A band or single musi ...

. 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 1980s and now have many 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 m ...

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 Rights of way in England and Wales, public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, Englan ...

(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 serving the town of Ewell 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 Horton Light Railway whi ...

, which has services towards

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a major central London railway 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 Undergroun ...

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west 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 ro ...

and

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west 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 nam ...

, and Ewell East, which has services towards

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named afte ...

, 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 TfL-operated

293 __NOTOC__ Year 293 ( CCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, year 1046 ''Ab urbe condita''). The den ...

406 __NOTOC__ Year 406 ( CDVI) was a common year starting on Monday 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 urbe condita''). The denomination 406 fo ...

418 __NOTOC__ Year 418 (Roman numerals, CDXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius (emperor), Honorius and Theodosius II, Theodosius (or, less frequent ...

467 __NOTOC__ Year 467 (Roman numerals, CDLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pusaeus and Iohannes (consul 467), Iohannes (or, less frequently, year 1220 '' ...

, S2 and non-TfL operated E5 and E16 providing links to

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

Kingston Upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

and

Chessington Chessington is an area in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames within Greater London, which was historically part of Surrey. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. The Bonesgate Stream, a tributary of ...

Demography and housing

In art

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), 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, ...

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 works here. The doorway linking St Mary's church yard and the grounds of Glyn House are reproduced as the door on which Christ is knocking his painting '' The Light of the World''. 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 s ...

' oil on canvas ''

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

'' was painted at the

in 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 Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

or London, having a relative 'lack of entertainment facilities'.

Notable people

Singer

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

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 Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fra ...

, and TV presenter

Michaela Strachan Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan (, born 7 April 1966) is an English television presenter and singer. After beginning her career in theatre, she ventured into presenting and fronted the children's television shows '' Wide Awake Club'' (1986–1989 ...

. Playwright

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...

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 (play), Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy (play), Democracy''. Frayn's novel ...

, 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-m ...

in childhood, Trevor "Tosh" Chamberlain lived in the town, as did high jumper Phyllis Nicol. Michael "Venom" Page was a former resident.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

{{Authority control *Ewell Towns in Surrey Former civil parishes in Surrey