The neighbourhood of Epsom sits nestled between Sutton and Chessington. An idyllic suburban village, the area attracts mostly families. For those that work in Central London, they’re able to easily commute into their offices via Southern Railways at the Tattenham Corner Rail Station. That’s not to say that working parents are eager to leave their large Georgian single family houses though. When not at work, residents love spending time in the quiet but community oriented neighbourhood. Locals can often be found watching races at the Epsom Downs Racecourse, or strolling through Rosebury Park. For a quiet neighbourhood, the area still manages to have an impressive offering of great pubs and eateries. After catching a show at the Epsom Playhouse, families often head to The Derby Arms or The Rising Sun to enjoy some delicious gastropub fare. With all that the area has to offer, it’s easy to see why families feel so at home in the neighbourhood.

Epsom was originally a manor that belong to Chertsey Abbey. However, following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1537, a small village began to develop in the area. While the village remained quite rural into the 17th century, once water rich in magnesium sulphate was discovered, the area began to rapidly expand into a spa town. By the 18th century, the spa business had slowed down but had already influenced the construction of many large homes in the area. The neighbourhood’s other attraction - racing - continued to grow, leading to a larger commuting population as well as the construction of shopping centres. Today, many of the old Georgian buildings are still standing throughout the neighbourhood.

Epsom Salt was first discovered in the neighbourhood at an underground spring during the 17th century. It’s now used for a wide range of purposes, from itch alleviation to gardening.

The busy A240 road cuts through this neighbourhood. Being a multi-lane street, its traffic brings quite a lot of noise and pollution to the area. Even so, residents and that being so close has its benefits as well. For drivers, they love having easy access to the convenient road.

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!