EPSOM, a parish in the first division of the hundred
of COPTHORNE, county of SURREY, 16 miles
(E. N. E.) from Guildford, and 15 (S. W. by S.) from
London, on the road to Worthing, containing, with
the hamlet of Horton, 2890 inhabitants. This place
was by the Saxons called Ebbisham, from which its present
name is derived. It is delightfully situated on
the western verge of Banstead downs, and from the
salubrity of the air and the estimation in which its medicinal
waters were formerly held, it became the resort
of many families, and rapidly increased in the number
of its buddings aiid the extent of its population. In the
centre of the town, is a large sheet of water; Vhe houses
are in general handsome and well built, and the inhabitants
are tolerably supplied with water. The environs
which are exceedingly pleasant, abound with handsome
villas; and on the downs, which command an extensive
and interesting view of the surrounding country, is aa
excellent course, on wlicli races are held annually, commencing
on the Tuesday and continuing till the end of
the week preceding Whitsuntide; the Derby stakes are
run for on Thursday, which is the principal day, and the
Oaks on Friday. The grand stand, a handsome and
commodious edifice, was erected in 1829r.O, the expense
being estimated at £13,890, raised in one thousand £20
shares; the interior comprises several rooms for refreshment,
and a saloon, one hundred and one feet in
length, and thirty-eight feet wide; the whole length of
the building is one hundred and twenty-six feet, arranged
for the accommodation of five thousand persons,
with seats on the roof for two thousand five hundred:
a second meeting also takes place in. October; much of
the support of tLe town aiises from the great influx
of strangers at the time of the i-aces. The market,
formerly on Friday, has been discontinued; but it is
in contemplation to erect a market-house for the renewal
of the market, v.ith a room over it for holding
the sessions, on the site of an old watch-house, which
is about to be taken down; a faio is held annually on.
the 5th of August for toys. The medicinal springs,
though less frequented than formerly, still retain their
efficacy. The coxmty magistrates hold here a petty
session for the division on the first Monday in every
month; and the town is within the jurisdiction of a
court held at Kingston, for the recovery of debts to
any amount: a court baron is held in April, and a
court leet in October.
The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry
of Surrey, and diocese of Winchester, rated in the
king's books at AS. Q. 9., and in the patronage of
- Speirs, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Martin,
was rebuilt at an expense of £7000 in 1825, when
it received an addition of five hundred and fortyseven
sittings, three hundred and thirty-nine of them
free, towards defraying the expense of which, the Incorporated
Society for the enlargement of churches
and chapels granted £ 500; in the modern edifice the
architectural style of the ancient structure has in most
instances been carefully preserved. There is a place of
worship for Independents. In 1694, JohnBrayne, Esq.
bequeathed £300, to be invested in the purchase of land,
of which the rents were to be applied to the instruction
of poor children, from which fund, augmented with
other benefactions, arises an annual income of more
than £70, by which, and by annual subscriptions, all
the children of the parish are instructed on the National
system; the school-rooms were built in 1828, by
subscription. An almshouse for twelve aged widows
was erected by the parishioners, on land given for
that purpose by Mr. John Livingstone, about the year
1703. Samuel Cane, Esq., in 1786, bequeathed £500 three
per cent, consols.; and in 1814, Langley Brackenbury,
Esq. left by will £300 in the same funds, to be distribuE
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ted in bread and coal to the inmates of the almshouse.
There are also charitable bequests for the relief of the
poor generally. On the south-east side of the parish
is an irregularly intermitting spring.