Ewell 

(/ˈjuːəl/ ( listen) YOO-əl, inf. /ˈjuːl/ YOOL) is a suburban area in the borough of Epsom and

Ewell in Surrey, approximately 13 miles (21 km) south of central London and 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
northeast of Epsom. 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.[2]
Ewell was founded as a spring line settlement, where the permeable chalk of the North
Downs meets the impermeable London Clay, and the Hogsmill River (a tributary of the River
Thames) still rises at a spring close to Bourne Hall in the village centre. Recorded in Domesday
Book as Etwelle, the settlement was granted a licence to hold a market in 1618.[3] The opening of
railway stations to the east and west of the centre, in 1847 and 1859 respectively, facilitated the
creation of extensive residential areas, which are now contiguous with the Greater London suburbs.

Contents

 1History

 2Government and politics

 3Landmarks

 4Neighbourhoods

o 4.1Ewell Court

o 4.2West Ewell

 5Surrounding Area

 6Education

 7Sports, recreation and leisure

 8Transport

 9Demography and housing

 10In art

 11In film, fiction and the media

 12Other notable residents

 13See also

 14Notes and references

 15External links
History[edit]
The name Ewell derives from Old English æwell, which means river source or spring.
Bronze Age remains have been found in Ewell[4][5] and the Romans 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.[3] 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 North Downs to the south, and
the clay of the London Basin to the north.
The Roman road Stane Street from Chichester 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.[n 1]
Ewell lay within the Copthorne hundred.
Ewell appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Etwelle. It was held by William the Conqueror. Its
assets were: 13½ hides; 2 mills worth 10s, 16 ploughs, 14 acres (5.7 ha) of meadow, woodland and
herbage worth 111 hogs. It rendered £25 per year to its feudal system overlords; also £1 from the
church in Leatherhead, it was held by Osbert de Ow and was attached to his manor.[6] In the 13th
century Ewell's current spelling appears, in the Testa de Nevill.[3]
King Henry VIII established here in 1538 Nonsuch Palace on the borders of Cheam, considered one
of his greatest building projects. The estate, now Nonsuch Park, 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 a Grade II* listed 18th-century house
occasionally open to visitors.[7]
In 1618 Henry Lloyd, lord of the manor, was granted licence to hold a market in Ewell.[3] The market
died away in the early 19th century.[3]
Samuel Pepys 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.[8]
The enclosure (privatisation) of its common fields of 707 acres (286 ha) in the east and its infertile
land ('waste') of 495 acres (200 ha) was carried out in 1801.[3] 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.[3][9] In 1879 Ewell Court House, latterly a
library was built with a grotto that survives.[10]
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 in the Royal Borough of Kingston
upon Thames. This radical transformation is documented in the photography collected in the
book Archive Photos – Epsom and Ewell.[11] 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[edit]

The town lies within the parliamentary constituency of Epsom and Ewell, and is currently
represented in parliament by Conservative Chris Grayling.

Landmarks[edit]
The pond, Bourne Hall grounds

Bourne Hall

Ewell's largest landmark is Bourne Hall in the centre of the town. It is a modernist 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,
subterranean theatre, gymnasium, café and local museum, and holds gatherings such as
fairs, yoga and karate lessons. It was Grade II listed by English Heritage 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".[12]
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.[12] The garden wall,[13][14] a 19th-century
entrance arch to the gardens,[15] the nearby lodge,[16] and an 18th-century bridge inside the
gateway[17] were Grade II listed in 1954 and a waterwheel in 1976.[18]
Ewell has a C of E Parish Church (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 stone with Bath
Stone mullions and tracery. The church is home to the 1889 'Father' Henry Willis pipe organ. The
ruins of the old church's early medieval tower stand alone in parkland and are a Scheduled Ancient
Monument.[19] St Paul's Howell Hill sits at the far east of the town and borough, 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.[n
2]
 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. It
was transferred in 2000 from the Metropolitan Police, in whose district it had been placed since
1839, to the jurisdiction of Surrey Police.[citation needed]

Neighbourhoods[edit]
Ewell Court[edit]
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[edit]
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 largest 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.

Surrounding Area[edit]
show

Surrounding areas of Surrey and London

Education[edit]

Ewell Castle School, Church Street

Closest to the town are at senior (secondary) level:

 private day school Ewell Castle School, on Church Street

 boys (Mixed in Sixth Form) Academy Glyn School, on The Kingsway[20]
 mixed comprehensive school Blenheim High School, Longmead Road
 mixed comprehensive school Epsom and Ewell High School on Ruxley Lane, West Ewell
At further education level:
  North East Surrey College of Technology.
For the wider list of all schools in the borough, see borough of Epsom and Ewell.

Sports, recreation and leisure[edit]

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 baldrics and ribbons.
The local sports club, Ebbisham Sports Club, caters for badminton, squash and tennis, in addition to
having a social club. Ewell Tennis Club is also in the town.[21]
In Ewell Court, there is a King George's Field in memorial to King George V. Also at the King
George's Field, there is Ewell Athletics Track, a UK Athletics Class B track where Epsom and Ewell
Harriers, founded in 1890, have trained since the 1950s.[22] 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.
West Ewell Social Club is on Chessington Road.
Ewell is on the London Outer Orbital Path (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[edit]
Ewell is served by two railway stations: Ewell West, which has services towards London
Waterloo, Dorking and Guildford, and Ewell East, which has services towards London Victoria,
Dorking and Horsham. Both stations are in TfL Fare Zone 6.
Bus services in Ewell include the 293, 406, 418, 467, 470, E5 and E16 providing links
to Morden, Kingston Upon Thames and Chessington.

Demography and housing[edit]

2011 Census Homes

Shared
Semi- Flats and
Detache Terrace Caravans/temporary/mo between
Ward detache apartmen
d d bile homes/houseboats household
d ts
s[1]

Cuddingt
627 782 435 520 0 2
on

Ewell 799 482 402 756 0 0

 Ewell
666 1,200 127 225 2 0
Court

Nonsuch 1,733 114 22 60 0 0

Ruxley 342 690 501 980 12 0

West
272 1,257 562 307 1 0
Ewell

2011 Census Households

Populatio Household % Owned % Owned with a

Ward hectares[1]
n s outright loan

Cuddingto
5,934 2,366 39 43 135
n

Ewell 5,532 2,439 38 37 155

Ewell Court 5,417 2,220 49 40 146

Nonsuch 5,438 1,929 52 44 610

Ruxley 6,174 2,525 29 43 240

West Ewell 6,377 2,399 35 46 123

In art[edit]
Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt 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' oil on canvas Ophelia was painted at Ewell.

In film, fiction and the media[edit]

In August 2005 the borough of Epsom and Ewell 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'.

Other notable residents[edit]

Popular singer Petula Clark was born in Ewell in 1932, as well as the broadcaster James Whale, and
TV presenter Michaela Strachan.
In sport, footballer Ron Harris[n 3] lived in Ewell during the 1970s, cyclist Sean Yates in
childhood, Trevor "Tosh" Chamberlain [n 4] lives in the town, and Michael "Venom" Page was a former
resident.[23] Michael Frayn, author and playwright, lived as a child in Hillside Road, off Queensmead
Avenue, East Ewell.