Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts
=How to get there.=–From Waterloo, South-Western Railway. From
London Bridge or Victoria, London, Brighton, and South Coast Rly.
=Nearest Station.=–Epsom.
=Distance from London.=–14 miles.
=Average Time.=–3/4 hour.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=–Single 2s. 3d. 1s. 6d. 1s. 2d.
Return 3s. 0d. 2s. 6d. 2s. 2d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"King’s Head,” “Spread Eagle,” etc.
One must choose any other than a race-day if one wishes to see the
charming old town of Epsom at its best. But if, on the other hand, one
wishes, to see something of the scene on the race-course depicted in Mr.
Frith’s famous picture, one gets no suggestion of the great spectacle
except on race-days. On these occasions, at the Spring meeting and
during Derby week, one has merely to follow the great streams of
humanity which converge on the downs from the roads from London and from
the railway stations. On ordinary days the wide rolling downs are
generally left alone to the health-giving breezes which blow over them.
In the town itself there is much to be seen of the seventeenth-century
architecture associated with the days of Epsom’s fame as a
watering-place. The wide portion of the High Street at once attracts
one’s notice, for with one or two exceptions its whole length is full of
the quaintest of buildings with cream walls and mossy tiled roofs. The
clock-tower was built in 1848, when it replaced a very simple old
watch-house with a curious little tower rising from it. The “Spread
Eagle” is one of the oldest of the Epsom inns; its irregular front and
its position looking up the High Street make it more conspicuous than
the “King’s Head,” an equally old and very interesting hostelry facing
the clock-tower. Pepys stayed there in 1667, for in his diary of July 14
of that year he writes, “To Epsom, by eight o’clock, to the well; where
much company. And to the towne to the King’s Head; and hear that my Lord
Buckhurst and Nelly (Gwynne) are lodged at the next house, and Sir
Charles Sedley with them: and keep a merry house.” This house, next to
the “King’s Head,” is still standing. A little further along the street
is the large red-brick building known to-day as Waterloo House. It was
built about the year 1680, and was then known as the New Inn. The old
banqueting-hall it contains is divided up now, for the building is
converted into shops.
Durdans, the residence of Lord Rosebery, is about ten minutes’ walk from
the High Street. One can see the house and grounds from the narrow lane
leading to the downs.
[Illustration: HIGH STREET, EPSOM.
Showing one of the famous inns which flourished in the seventeenth
century.]
Continue...
Preface •
Ham House and Petersham •
Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle) •
Harrow •
Holwood House, Keston •
Chigwell, Essex •
Waltham Abbey and Cross •
Downe •
Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts •
Epping Forest •
Hampton Court •
Rye House, Broxbourne •
Hatfield House, Herts •
Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta •
The Oldest Brass in England •
St. Albans •
Stoke Poges Church, Bucks •
Windsor •
Jordans and William Penn •
Knole House and Sevenoaks •
Greenstead Church •
Chalfont St. Giles •
Westerham •
Guildford, Surrey •
Gad’s Hill •
Ightham Mote, Kent •
Penshurst •
St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion •
Rochester Cathedral •
Tunbridge Wells •
The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey •
Eversley •
Farnham, Surrey •
Hindhead, Surrey •
Shottermill •
Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex •
Chawton the Home of Jane Austen •
Selborne •
Elstow •
Lewes, Sussex •
Bodiam Castle, Sussex •
Colchester, Essex •
Layer Marney •
Battle Abbey •
Cambridge •
Arundel Castle •
Olney, Bucks •
Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great •
Canterbury and Its Cathedral •
Reculvers •
Oxford •
Midhurst •
Pevensey Castle •
Savernake Forest •
Ely Cathedral •
St. Ives, Huntingdonshire •
Winchelsea and Rye •
Blenheim Palace •
Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland •
Peterborough •
Southampton •
Helmingham Hall •
Stonehenge, Wiltshire •
Netley Abbey •
Salisbury and Its Cathedral •
Sandwich, Kent •
New Forest, Hampshire •
Osborne House •
Carisbrooke Castle •
Lutterworth •
Compton Wynyates •
Kenilworth Castle •
Belvoir Castle •
Bath •
Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers •
Warwick •
Gloucester and Its Cathedral •
Norfolk Broads •
Norwich Cathedral •
Lichfield •
Sherborne and Its Abbey Church •
Newark •
Wells and Its Cathedral •
Stratford-On-Avon •
Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk •
Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire •
Corfe Castle •
Lincoln and Its Cathedral •
Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson •
Glastonbury Abbey •
Walsingham, Norfolk •
Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset •
Newstead Abbey •
The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances •
Tintern Abbey •
Chesterfield, Derbyshire •
Dukeries •
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire •
The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor •
Raglan Castle •
Dovedale •
Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire •
Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop •
Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire •
Ludlow and Its Castle •
Shrewsbury •
Buxton and the Peak District •
Tewkesbury •
Exeter and Its Cathedral •
Market Drayton, Salop •
Chester •
Exmoor •
Knutsford •
Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset •
Cleeve Abbey, Somerset •
Hawarden •
York Minster •
Coxwold, Yorkshire •
Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey •
Knaresborough, Dripping Well •
Fountains Abbey •
Ripon Cathedral •
Dartmoor •
Haworth •
Rievaulx Abbey •
Brixham, Devon •
Conway Castle •
The Doone Valley, Exmoor •
Llandovery, South Wales •
Dartmouth, Devon •
Richmond, Yorkshire •
Tintagel •
Whitby •
Carnarvon Castle •
Plymouth •
Durham and Its Cathedral •
Raby Castle, Durham •
Snowdon •
Harlech Castle •
Grasmere and Rydal Mount •
The Lake District •
St. Davids Cathedral •
Furness Abbey, Lancashire •
Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow •
The Isle of Man •
Brantwood •
Fowey •
Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall •
The Lake District •
Keswick •
Alnwick Castle •
Lanercost Priory, Cumberland •
Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.] •
St. Ives, Cornwall •
Bamborough Castle, Northumberland
![[Buy at Amazon]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006ADKOC.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)