The Epsom Protection Society Newsletter 86 - December 2000

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The Chairman's Commentary

As we approach the end of another year, we look around our town and see some of the proposals that have been discussed in the past coming to fruition. Two important buildings are on their way to completion: the Lifestyle Centre, we are told, will become the 'heart of the town': and the framework for the controversial extension to the Surrey College of Art and Design in Ashley Road is in place. I suggested in Newsletter No. 77 that we should be able to judge the effectiveness of the planning controls by the results: watch these buildings and let us know your views.

Increasing public involvement in the decision making process is one of our Council's aims. This has been taken a stage further by the Planning Committee with the introduction of spoken contributions from members of the public at its meetings. Helpful guidelines are available from the Town Hall. These arrangements seem to be a step in the right direction and should be welcomed.

Following my question (Newsletter No. 83) - what sort of town do we want? - a newspaper headline caught my eye - 'Influx of cafes threatens to swallow up town shops' (Epsom & Banstead Guardian Nov. 2). If shops continue to disappear, and this becomes a reality, at what point does Epsom become unattractive to the shopper? Perhaps this is the price we pay for supporting supermarkets.

Questions have been asked why has it taken so long for the Hook Road - Chessington Road roundabout to be completed. Enquiries have revealed that revised standards have been set for the removal of surface water and this has caused the delay in completion. In view of current rainfall this revision of standards seems to have come not a moment too soon! I am assured that work should be recommenced in the near future. We shall miss the bump in the road.

The Waterloo House saga continues. Our latest information is that a developer is in the early stages of negotiation with the owners. We wait with crossed fingers.

News of your Executive Committee. You will remember that Ken Brundle dealt with planning issues and was also our Vice-Chairman. Alan Baker took over planning and continued to act as Secretary, whilst Angela Clifford became Minutes Secretary. The Committee has decided to put forward the following proposals for approval at the next AGM. Alan, following Ken, to be Vice Chairman and deal with planning: Angela to be Secretary and Minutes Secretary. While all Members will be aware of Alan's input, not so many will be familiar with Angela's important contribution; thank you both, the two A's.

Planning

Once again this has been an active period on the planning front.

Public Participation
At the October meeting of the Planning Committee the opportunity for public speaking was introduced. The main elements are that individual members of the public - whether objectors, supporters or applicants - may speak for a maximum of three minutes about a planning application. There are a number of conditions and the speaker is not able to take part in the debate. Several speakers took part in October and, although the procedure was stated to be experimental, the general view seems to be that it was successful and it seems likely to be continued.

Ashley Centre Advertising
The scheme for painting the town blue described in Newsletter No. 85 was somewhat modified by the time it reached the Planning Committee, but we still maintained our objection and said that in our opinion the proposals would be likely to degrade the whole of the Town Centre. In Committee members called it "tacky" and referred to "advertising detritus". The decision was deferred at the applicant's request and later withdrawn. A new application is expected next year. You may have seen that the Epsom Comet gave it front page treatment under the banner "Rejected", and quoted our views. One up for us so far! We also wrote to the new owners, Capital and Regional Properties, expressing reservations about some of their proposals for the internal operation of the Centre (which do not need planning permission) but so far (five weeks) have not received any reply.

Thames Water Site, East Street
In our last episode, we left this story when the July Planning Committee refused one application for the development of this site on the grounds that its scale and design were unduly intrusive, and deferred a duplicate application for further discussion. At the September Committee an amended design was submitted which met most of our objections and the Planning Committee resolved to grant permission subject to the completion of a legal Agreement about a number of planning requirements. In the meantime the applicants had appealed against the refusal of the original scheme. This process has been speeded up so that from a refusal in July, a Public Inquiry was held on 31 October, and a decision is expected in two weeks. The appeal was, in effect, about the difference between the accepted amended scheme and the original, and the result may well have been published by the time you read this.

20-26 Upper High Street
Continuing this epic from the last two Newsletters, an amended application was considered at the September Planning Committee and was refused on the grounds of poor design and the lack of retail units.

Station Way
Amendments were made to this scheme (Newsletter No. 85) covering improvements to the lift and layout, and the proposal for the routing of Station Way on the upper floor was approved.

St Joseph's R C Church, Heathcote Road
In 1996 Conservation Area consent was given for the demolition of the existing Church, Church Hall and Presbytery and planning permission was granted for a two-storey block of 9 flats and 3 houses on the site. These permissions expire next January. Further applications have now been submitted for a more intensive housing development - no doubt producing a better financial result - and for renewal of the demolition consent. We objected to the increased development and supported a report by the Conservation Officer recommending the inclusion of the Church in the list of Locally Important Buildings. The Planning Committee refused the applications and agreed to the local listing of the building, which is less than statutory listing but has to be taken into account in dealing with any planning application. Many of you will know that the demolition of the Church started shortly afterwards and is now well advanced.

Hospital Cluster - Boiler House Site
Much work has been done by agents acting for the Secretary of State for Health on a draft development brief for the site of the Central Boiler House, following the refusal last March of permission for a very extensive tennis and fitness centre. The brief is much more reasonable but we have submitted comments. We have also written to Sir Archibald Hamilton MP asking him to seek assurances that the listed building will be maintained to prevent further deterioration or vandalism pending its refurbishment, and these are awaited.

Controlled Parking Zones
If you live within the central part of Epsom, you will have received a Public Consultation Leaflet outlining the Council's proposals for CPZ's which will control parking in residential areas during certain hours. The idea has been under discussion for some years following criticism of parking by commuters and shoppers to the annoyance of residents. A trial scheme has been in place in such locations as Hookfield where some success has been achieved.

The Executive Committee discussed the desirability of making a comment on behalf of the Society, but decided that this was a matter for individual response as it did not affect all members and as there was a great variety of opinion, as seen in the correspondence columns of the local papers.

We do, however, believe that replies should be made to the consultation and hope that you have all done so. The engineers attending the public displays seemed to welcome public reaction, and your comments may well influence the final form of CPZ's. The last date for reply is (?was) 30 November.

STOP PRESS
Thames Water Site, East Street While this Newsletter was in production, the decision of the Inspector was received. Since the refusal of the original scheme some amendments had been made, satisfying some of the grounds for refusal and the Inspector used this amended version as the appeal scheme. The remaining differences between this and the approved scheme were the size of the blocks backing on to Victoria Place, and the height of a block of flats at the back of the site. After reviewing the evidence submitted to the Public Inquiry, the Inspector came to the conclusion that these matters would not have an unduly onerous effect and he allowed the appeal. In our view, the approved scheme would have been better, but some of its amendments have now been incorporated into the appeal scheme, including the better design of the block in East Street and this is an improvement on its first form. The Inspector added that the housing development would enhance the setting of the Linton's Lane Conservation Area compared with the existing water pumping station, and this comment has some merit. He also thought the scheme fully complied with the new Government guidance in PPG3, which seeks greater density on brown-field sites near Town Centres.

Trees and Downs

There is little of particular note to report just now but we hope that Mike Ford and John Murray will be sharpening their pens in time for Newsletter No 87.

Events

Sutton Place
Two parties visited this Tudor mansion, set in wonderful gardens and parkland near Guildford. On 20th September a full coach made the trip and a week later a number of us went on our own wheels, there having been so many wishing to visit before the estate is sold. Our guides were very knowledgable on the history of the house and the succession of owners, including the late Paul Getty, as well as on the art collection of the present American owner. We were also given a most interesting talk by the Head Gardener before exploring the grounds at our pace. In between we had a delicious lunch and tea.

Annual Buffet Party, 10th October
We returned to the Council Chamber of Epsom Town Hall for our annual get-together. 61 members and guests, including the Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor & Mrs Nigel Petrie, enjoyed a pleasant evening with an excellent meal, followed by an illustrated talk on the Palace at Ewell of quite absorbing interest reaching up to modern times. This was given by an old friend, Gerald Smith, Chairman of the Friends of Nonsuch. We shall hope for yet a third visit by him to bring us up to date with the Friends' activities, and the wonderful work of restoration of the kitchens and service rooms.

Annual General Meeting
This will be held on Wednesday 4th April 2001 in the Myers Studio of the Epsom Playhouse. Details will be given on our next Newsletter.

EPSOM AND EWELL SUSTAINABILITY VISIONING DAY

I accepted an invitation in September to attend this function, along with some 50 others including Borough and County Councillors, Council Officers and representatives of most of the relevant local societies. In spite of the name it was a useful and enjoyable day.

Ideas were invited from the floor and written on a blackboard, from which the "facilitator" drew up subjects for discussion in small groups. These subjects were in turn developed into a framework for the preparation of a report to the Council's Borough Strategy Board, whose Chairman was present.

Subjects of particular interest to us included the character of the town, housing, vandalism, shopping, open space and green belt. We now await a report of the day and the result of the consideration by the Borough Strategy Board.

FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS - BYGONE EWELL

Charles Abdy, Ewell Past, published by Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 2000, price £14.99 hardback, xi, 132pp. ISBN 1 86077 135 1.

This well presented book is a popular - in the best sense of the word - description of some two thousand years of human settlement. Part one, chapters one to five, covers the village from the earliest times to the seventeenth century. Part two is the greater portion of the book with chapters six to nineteen: they deal thematically with subjects such as Schools, Shops and Public Houses, and Local Government from 1800 to the present.

Chapter one briefly reviews the significance of the geological background and indications of pre-Roman settlement. But it is the Roman period that often engages public interest and it must be said the couple of pages of text devoted to this aspect underline the notion that we still know very little of the nature and extent of the settlement alongside the Roman road. The author cannot be blamed for this omission, for many of the reports of the excavations that have taken place over the past decades have yet to be published. One published report, cited by the author, suggests some intriguing possibilities, and whets the appetite for future research. By comparison, a wealth of detail is presented for the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries and this enables us to see the village as a section of society in the shadow of London, subject to ever increasing pressure to absorb a newly mobile populace. The chapter on Crime and Punishment reveals the change in public perceptions and mores; indeed, this is similarly apparent in the chapter headed 'Schools'. The author almost gives us a 'family' history, with its characters and achievements. There is an interesting story of one farmer who, understandably, did not want a sewage outfall near his cowshed and that it took years to establish a sewage system: this reminds us that the time taken to achieve objectives has not noticeably changed.

The excellent range of illustrations include many selected from the Bourne Hall Museum collection, demonstrating the value of the local musuem. One disappointment for this reviewer is the lack of period maps and plans: indeed the quality of maps throughout leaves something to be desired, although it must be said that they mostly serve their purpose, apart from the fact that this old codger had occasionally to use a magnifying glass.

All in all, this is a book to be recommended, especially at Christmas time: an ideal present for anybody interested in Ewell and Epsom, for the chapters on the later twentieth century inevitably include references to both. One lesson that might be learnt from this book is that although we have lost many interesting buildings, some have survived. It behoves us to take great care of the remaining few!

BYGONE EPSOM - WATCH HOUSE AND POND

On the site of our Clock Tower once stood the old Watch House with an oval pond, and no doubt the stocks, on its west side. In 1719 my great great great great grandfather was elected Parish Constable. His report after his first year of office merely said "Nil Return". Whether the local population was unusually well-behaved, or my ancestor unusually indolent, I cannot say! In the 1930's my father found in a shed to the rear of our business premises next to Yew Tree Cottage (now Cafe Rouge) an old book. It appeared to have belonged to a gentleman in the 1720's and then to a lady in the 1750's, both of whom had used it as a diary. Between 1821 and 1836 my great grandfather and his son William - tailors by trade - had utilised it as their accounts book. Much interesting information concerning costume making and repair, and costs came to light. Materials such as barragon, nankeen, jean, kerseymere, gambroon, fustian, beaver and napt were frequently used. The book is now in the V & A in London.

It also revealed that William was Constable in 1833. There is information concerning his stint at the Watch House, including such parish expenses as:

Taking John Arnold to Banstead for bastardy ... 3/6d
Prisoner in custody for street robbery of Ann Horley ... 4/-
Straw for Watch House ... 2/6d
Person on suspicion of murder of Mr Richardson ... 5/-
Henry Clare for taking fish out of large Pond, and breakfast ... 9d
Conveying William Collins to Newington ... 3/9d
Apprehending Henry Dunn for stealing shawl of Rebecca Deval ... 4/6d

In 1848 an Act was passed creating Local Health Boards and (surprise, surprise!) Epsom led the the way in 1850. By 1854, the new Board had ordered the filling in of that foul-smelling pond. The Clock Tower dates from 1849. There was at the time controversy over its "Chinese Cupola" and repeated suggestions were put forward for the removal of this exotic feature. But of course it is still there!

BYGONE EPSOM - WHAT'S IN A NAME?

On 17 November, BBC Southern Counties Radio (104fm) carried an item about the new Lifestyle Centre and sent a reporter to Epsom. She quizzed a number of people in the High Street about its planned name - The Ebbisham Centre. Sadly not one knew its origin; indeed one lady expressed the view that "they" ought to have gone for a more traditional or historic name. It was left to our old friend Jeremy Harte of Bourne Hall Museum to set the record straight.

We did in fact cover this matter in the first of our stories on Bygone Epsom in Newsletter No. 77. We feel that 21st century Epsomians ought to know something about their town's antecedents stretching back some 1300 years or so, and so we take the liberty of reproducing a couple of paragraphs from our earlier article.

Epsom was founded by Saxon invaders in the sixth or seventh century near where St. Martin of Tours' church was later built and bordering Stane Street, the Roman road linking Londinium to Noviomagus (Cissa's Ceastr to the Saxons and Chichester to us). The route northwards of this highway is broadly followed by our A29 as far as Dorking, then by Mickleham, east of Leatherhead and Ashtead, across the RAC grounds, Chalk Lane and Ashley Road and then on to the capital through Ewell - a Roman settlement pre-dating Epsom - and North Cheam. Ewell was formerly rendered as Etwelle, the place of water or wells.

Our local settlement came to be known as Ebba's Hame, the home or habitation or Ebb, or Ebbi or Ebba, probably the founder or an early resident, thought by some to be Queen Ebbi. Spelling especially of proper names was for long phonetic rather than standard, even into the seventeenth century and the name was recorded in a dozen different versions including Ebbyshame, Ebesham, Evesham, Epsam, Epsum, Hebsam (with an H), Epsham, etc., as well as Ebbisham, still in use today as a road name, as also is Ebba's Way. The current spelling came into use 400 years ago.

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