Ewell
| Ewell | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ219627 |
| Location: | 51°21’1"N, 0°14’55"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 39,994 (2001) |
| Post town: | Epsom |
| Postcode: | KT17, KT19 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Epsom and Ewell |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Epsom and Ewell |
Ewell (ˈjuːl) is a village in Surrey, close to the southern edge of the metropolitan conurbation and beginning to fall within it. It is very much a part of the suburbia that surrounds the conurbation. Despite its growing population it is still referred to as a village by locals and largely maintains a rural character.
Ewell is at the head of the Hogsmill river, which enters the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames.
Ewell lies within the Copthorne hundred.
History
The name Ewell derives from Old English æwell, which means river source or spring. The old Roman road Stane Street deviates from a straight line slightly at Ewell in order to pass by the spring. Ewell is one of a number of settlements founded along the geological line between the chalk of the North Downs to the south, and the clay of the London Basin to the north. The A24 London Road runs from Merton to Ewell along the course of the Roman road, and Stane Street leaves Ewell connecting it towards Leatherhead and Dorking to the south-west. Bronze Age remains have also been found in Ewell.
Ewell appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Etwelle. It was held by the King. Its Domesday assets were: 13½ hides; 2 mills worth 10s, 16 ploughs, 14 acres of meadow, woodland and herbage worth 111 hogs. It rendered £25; also £1 from the church in Leatherhead, which was held by Osbert de Ow and was attached to his manor.[1]
In 1538, King Henry VIII established Nonsuch Palace, considered one of his greatest building projects, to the north-east of the village. The estate, which remains a public park, was one of his favourite hunting grounds, although no trace of the palace remains since it was destroyed during the 17th century.
Tunnels dating from the English Civil War exist underneath Ewell but are poorly documented and inaccessible to the public. One such secret passage is reported to emerge under the shop on the corner of West Street and High Street.
In the 1980s, an elderly lifelong resident of Ewell (Digance) recalled the pasture land and orchards that stretched north and west right across to Berrylands (located between Tolworth and Surbiton). This radical transformation is documented in the photography collected in the book Archive Photos - Epsom and Ewell.[2] The suburban residential development now present across that area is comprised almost exclusively of 1930s/40s semi-detached houses, and the Hogsmill Open Space is the last remaining indication of Ewell's very rural pre-war history.
Sights about the village
One of Ewell's most notable landmarks is the architecturally impressive Bourne Hall, situated in the centre of the village. Originally the site of Garbrand Hall, a large country mansion, Bourne Hall is now a modernist circular structure with a central glass dome, and is surrounded by an attractive public park. The building, which is reminiscent of an immense flying saucer, hosts a public library, subterranean theatre, gymnasium, café, and local museum.
Ewell has a Parish Church (Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell), which was designed by Henry Clutton and consecrated in 1848. It is home to the 1889 'Father' Henry Willis pipe organ.
Ewell has an unusually large telephone exchange, next door to the Spring pub, which was fitted with underground facilities during the late years of the Cold War, designed to survive a nuclear conflict.
Sports and recreation
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 baldricks and ribbons.
In West Ewell, there is a King George's Field in memorial to King George V. The local sports club (Ebbisham Sports Club) cater for badminton, squash and tennis, in addition to having a social club.
Ewell Tennis Club in the village, catering for tennis players of all standards.
Ewell lies on the London Outer Orbital Path walking route.
References
- ↑ Surrey Domesday Book
- ↑ Richard Essen, The Archive Photographs Series: Epsom and Ewell (Stroud: The Chalford Press, 1994)
