Epsom History

EPSOM, a parish and market town in the first division of the hundred of Copthorne, county Surrey, 9 miles N. of Reigate, and 15 S. of London by the turnpike road, or 18 by railway. Both the London and Brighton and London and South-Western lines have stations in the town, which is seated on the main road to Guildford and Worthing.

It is called in the Domesday Survey Ebbisham, and is supposed to derive its name from Ebba, a princess of Northumbria. It was part of the demesne of Chertsey Abbey, and in the 17th century was famous for its mineral waters. The hamlet of Horton is in this parish. The town is clean, well paved, and lighted with gas, and near the centre is a tower with an illuminated clock.

It is a market town and polling place, and petty sessions are held here weekly. There is a county court police station, Poor-law Union, water-works, two banks, and a savings-bank. Epsom owes its celebrity to the racecourse, which annually attracts its tens of thousands to the Downs. The races take place in April, September, and the week before Whitsuntide-Wednesday being Derby Day, on a course of 2 miles; Friday the Oaks, on a course of 12 mile. In the neighbourhood there are several nursery grounds. Malting and brewing are carried on, also brickmaking.

The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Winchester, value £350. The church is an elegant structure, with tower containing a peal of eight bells, and a handsome E. window of stained glass. It is dedicated to St. Martin, and contains monuments of the Coke family, and two to the memory of Parkhurst, the Greek and Hebrew scholar. The register commences in 1695. Christ Church is a neat edifice, and a chapel-of ease to the mother church. The charitable endowments of the parish produce nearly £300 per annum, £57 of which is for school purposes, and £24 for John Livingstone's almshouses.

The Independents, Wesleyans, Lady Huntingdon's Connexion, Protestant Evangelists, and Roman Catholics, have each a chapel. There are National, British, and infant schools. The Royal Medical Benevolent College is an asylum for the widows of medical men and decayed members of the profession. To it is attached a public school for the sons of gentlemen and medical men, a number of whose orphans have a home and education here, free of expense. The buildings, which are extensive, are situated near the Downs.

In the neighbourhood are many handsome residences. John Evatt Briscoe, Esq., is lord of the manor. Here is a meet for the Surrey hounds. Wednesday is market day, and a fair is held on the 25th July.

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003] These pages are intended for personal use only, so please respect the conditions of use.