The small number of residential roads in the area consist of your typical suburban combination of Edwardian and interwar semis, with a number of more contemporary apartment buildings. The nearby market town of Epsom is the closest high street, and retains its village charm despite the encroachment of the ever-growing city. While Epsom station provides a reasonably regular service into Waterloo, it is too far from the city to fall within the Oyster Card zones. Despite its distance from London, the area is just about close enough to have a number of red bus routes. Between the house prices that are far lower than most of Greater London, and its routes into town, this neighbourhood is proving increasingly popular with commuters and first time buyers who have been priced out of the city.

Rural for the majority of its history, this neighbourhood and its surrounding areas rose to prominence in the Georgian period as a popular spa town. This spa development was due to local cattle farmer Henry Wicker noticing water emerging from a deep hoofprint on Epsom Common in 1618.

The nearby town centre of Epsom retains some features from this period such as a water pump and a few Georgian villas. Around this time, too, the centuries-old racecourse of Epsom Downs gained popularity with the introduction of the famous Epsom Derby, first officially run in 1780. The racecourse had in fact been in use since at least 1625, when a local burial list mentioned that one unfortunate competitor had fallen from his horse and broken his neck. It is widely believed that both Samuel Pepys and Charles II were regular racegoers. The introduction of the railways in the mid-1850s only added to the area’s popularity, offering an easy route to the spa or racecourse from the city, and kickstarting the suburban development of the neighbourhood.

Epsom General Hospital is well-known for its fantastic maternity ward, and has even been the birthplace of a number of celebrities. These include the actor Warwick Davis, the comedian and presenter Mel Giedroyc, and former tennis star Andrew Castle!

The famed Epsom Derby brings with it a number of unique issues to the area, such as overcrowding at stations, traffic on the roads, and occasional anti-social behaviour. However, when speaking to one local restaurant owner, he mentioned that despite all the problems the huge numbers of revellers bring, it is great for local businesses. He also said that since it’s only once a year, the locals don’t mind too much.

The village-esque, rural nature of Epsom means large scale developments to the area are few and far between thanks in part to both protected Green Belt land and opposition from residents. That said, Epsom is likely to see some change over the next couple of decades with the introduction of the Future40 plan, which will seek to improve the environmental friendliness, safety, culture and connectivity accross the borough with input from locals. This improvement plan is likely a knock-on effect of the proposed Crossrail 2 line which is slated to pass through Epsom, increasing the number of trains that will take commuters into central London and further afield to 8. Luckily for Epsom, the council will have plenty of time to implement any changes they may wish to make to this semi-rural borough before the new train line brings in lots of new faces as it’s now not predicted to launch for at least another decade!