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Epsom
Town in Surrey, England

Epsom

Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about 14 miles south of central London.

Plan a trip to Epsom→From Luton, Luton

The town is first recorded as Ebesham in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The earliest evidence of human activity is from the mid-Bronze Age, but the modern settlement probably grew up in the area surrounding St Martin's Church in the 6th or 7th centuries and the street pattern is thought to have become established in the Middle Ages. Today the High Street is dominated by the clock tower, which was erected in 1847–8.

Get in

Getting to Epsom

Epsom lies just to the southwest of London Metropolitan Area, but inside the M25 orbital motorway. The shortest main road between central London and Epsom is the A3, starting at London Bridge, switching to the A24 at Clapham Common, through to Epsom town centre. The A24 makes barely any diversion from the SSW compass point. Between London and Epsom this Roman route (built c.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Epsom Downs Racecourse

    The home of the Epsom Derby, a two-day festival of horse racing dating back to 1780, held each year in early June.

  2. 02
    Bourne Hall Museum

    A small local museum with some interesting exhibits.

  3. 03
    Hobbledown

    Horton Lane, KT19 8PT (Between Epsom and Chessington near junction 9 of the M25), epsominfo@hobbledown.com.

  4. 04
    Polesden Lacey
  5. 05
    Box Hill

    The Old Fort, Box Hill Road, Box Hill, Tadworth, KT20 7LB (1 mile north of Dorking, 2 miles south of Leatherhead on the A24), fax: +44 1306 875030, boxhill@nationaltrust.org.uk.

Do

Things to do

  1. 01
    Catch a show at the Epsom Playhouse

    Ashley Avenue, KT18 5AL (behind the Ashley Centre shopping mall),.

  2. 02
    Chessington World of Adventures

    Apr-Oct and limited winter partial opening.

Eat

Where to eat

There are many chain restaurants in the centre of town, but on Epsom Downs, by the racecourse, there are two pubs which provide good food at reasonable prices. Both can get very busy, particularly at weekends.

  1. 01
    Derby Arms

    Epsom Downs, KT18 5LE,.

  2. 02
    Rubbing House

    Langley Vale, Epsom Downs, KT18 5LG,.

How locals move

Getting around Epsom the local way

  • Go nextRoad/rail links to Oxford (with organised day trips to Blenheim Palace or Henley on Thames) and Salisbury (with organised day trips to the Stonehenge museum) are good.

From Wikivoyage: Surrey, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: DimiTalen (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.