Twelve free openings across Epsom and Ewell from 11 to 20 September, including a Derby course walk capped at 20 places. Dates, times and how to book each.
Twelve buildings, walks and talks across Epsom and Ewell open free of charge between Friday 11 and Sunday 20 September, as part of Heritage Open Days. Seven of the twelve need pre-booking, and six of those have a stated capacity of 20 or 30 people. Booking on some closes more than a week before the festival ends.
That is the whole borough list from the festival’s own printable area page for Epsom and Ewell. We checked every venue postcode against postcodes.io and all twelve sit inside the borough, including the Nonsuch entry, which the festival files under a Sutton address but which is in the borough’s Nonsuch ward. (Heritage Open Days: Epsom & Ewell)
Every opening, day by day
Friday 11 September
- St Martin’s Church, Church Street, Epsom, 9.30am to 1pm. No booking.
Saturday 12 September
- Horton Cemetery, Hook Road, 10am to 4pm. No booking. Free parking near the site.
- The Horton Arts Centre, Haven Way, 10am to 4pm. No booking.
- St Martin’s Church, 10am to 5pm.
Sunday 13 September
- Epsom Salts and Spa Walk, from the Assembly Rooms, 147 to 153 High Street, 11am. Booking required.
- Visit Ewell Court, Ewell Court House, Ewell Court Avenue, 10am to 2pm. No booking.
- Service Wing Museum, Nonsuch Park, 12pm to 4pm. No booking.
- St Martin’s Church, 12pm to 6pm.
Monday 14 September
- Everyday Histories in Worcester Park from the Iron Age to the Computer Age, Bourne Hall, 2pm. Booking required.
- St Martin’s Church, 9.30am to 1pm.
Tuesday 15 September
- Life on the Downs, Epsom Downs Racecourse, 10am. Booking required.
- St Martin’s Church, 9.30am to 1pm.
Wednesday 16 September
- Lost Buildings of Epsom, Bourne Hall, 2pm. Booking required.
- St Martin’s Church, 9.30am to 1pm.
Thursday 17 September
- Ewell Village, People and Places walk, from Bourne Hall, 10am. Booking required.
- Token Coins in Ewell and Epsom, Bourne Hall Museum, 2pm. Booking required.
- St Martin’s Church, 9.30am to 1pm.
Friday 18 September
- St Martin’s Church, 9.30am to 1pm.
Saturday 19 September
- Ewell Castle School, Church Street, Ewell, 12pm to 3pm. Booking required.
Sunday 20 September
- St Martin’s Church, 12pm to 6pm.
Sunday 13 September is the busiest day, with three separate openings on top of the parish church. Saturday 19 September is the thinnest: Ewell Castle School is the only thing on, and it is the one day of the ten when St Martin’s is not listed as open.
The ones that will fill up
Six events publish a maximum number of people, and between them they hold 150 places for the whole festival. All six are run by Bourne Hall Museum, which the borough council owns and runs.
| Event | Date | Places | Booking closes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epsom Salts and Spa Walk | Sun 13 Sep | 20 | 11 September |
| Everyday Histories in Worcester Park | Mon 14 Sep | 30 | 12 September |
| Life on the Downs | Tue 15 Sep | 20 | 14 September |
| Lost Buildings of Epsom | Wed 16 Sep | 30 | not stated |
| Ewell Village, People and Places | Thu 17 Sep | 20 | 16 September |
| Token Coins in Ewell and Epsom | Thu 17 Sep | 30 | not stated |
All six are booked through one Sessami link on the Bourne Hall upcoming events page, which also names who is leading each one: Ian West on the spa walk and the lost buildings talk, David Rymill on Worcester Park, Caroline Baldock on the Downs, Ruth Munns in Ewell Village and Ian Franklin on the token coins.
The Downs walk is the one to move on. Caroline Baldock was one of England’s first three professional female jockeys, and the walk goes round the Derby course itself. It runs an hour and a half, takes 20 people, and booking shuts on 14 September, the day before.
Horton Cemetery: 9,000 people, no headstones
The Saturday pairing at Horton is the most substantial thing in the programme. Horton Cemetery holds around 9,000 people buried in unmarked graves between 1899 and 1955, from the five psychiatric hospitals that made up Epsom’s hospital cluster. The Friends of Horton Cemetery have published more than 500 biographies of those buried there. (Friends of Horton Cemetery)
The cemetery itself is not accessible. The Friends open the land next to it from 10am to 4pm, with displays, audio recordings and volunteers, and free parking close by. Also in the Horton area, on Haven Way, The Horton Arts Centre opens for the same day. It is the Grade II listed former asylum chapel, built in 1901. Its festival listing gives 10am to 4pm, and its own notes say the exhibitions run from 9.15am to 4.30pm. Presentation times are due to be posted on its website the week before.
If you are looking for a family connection, both venues say to come early, because they expect to get busier through the day. The Horton also asks anyone wanting to see the cemetery land to register with its researchers first for directions.
Ewell Castle School opens for the first time
Ewell Castle School is 100 years old this year and is opening to visitors for the first time. Its Heritage Open Days entry says the school was founded on 19 January 1926 by H R Budgell, who bought the Castle building and started with 40 boys.
The Castle itself is older. It was built in 1814 for Thomas Calverley to a design by the local architect Henry Kitchen, in the revived Gothic style, and it had a Japanese garden with a lake, a tea house and a grotto. Glyn House, the prep school across Church Street, dates from 1838 and was the vicarage to St Mary’s Church.
Tours are 25 minutes and start on the hour and the half hour from 12pm, with the last at 2.30pm. You book by emailing events@ewellcastle.co.uk, saying which site or sites you want and which slot. Booking closes at 2pm on 16 September. There is no parking on either school site.
One thing to check before you travel
St Martin’s Church tells visitors it is “open daily from 11-20 September”, but the timings on its own festival entry list nine days and leave out Saturday 19 September. We could not resolve that today. If the 19th is the only day that works for you, ring or check with the church first.
Ashtead and Leatherhead have their own list
Ashtead and Leatherhead sit in Mole Valley, so their openings are on a different area page. Among them:
- St John’s School, Leatherhead, Saturday 12 September, tours at 10am, 11am, 12pm and 2pm. Booking required.
- Fetcham Park House, Saturday 12 September, 10am to 4.30pm. No booking.
- St Giles’ Church, Ashtead, Sunday 13 September, 2pm to 7pm. Booking required.
- The Leatherhead Theatre, Friday 18 September, 11am to 4pm. Booking required.
- Ashtead Rye Meadows Wetlands, Sunday 20 September, volunteers on site 10am to 4pm. Booking required.
The Leatherhead Institute on the High Street carries several more, including an art club exhibition and a talk by the ITV News broadcaster Faye Barker on 18 September. The full list is on the Mole Valley area page.
What it means for you
If you only do one thing, do a Saturday 12 September trip to Horton. Two venues, no booking, and it is the piece of Epsom’s history that is least written about anywhere else.
If you want a booked event, book this week. Three of the six capped events take 20 people, and the earliest deadline, the spa walk, is 11 September.
If you are coming by car, Ewell Castle School has no visitor parking and Church Street has very little. The school points visitors to the Bourne Hall car park, KT17 1UF. Our parking in Epsom page covers the town centre car parks and what they cost.
If you are coming by train, most of the venues are in Epsom town centre or Ewell Village, and both have their own stations. See Epsom train times to London for the lines and operators.
For what else is on locally through the rest of the year, see things to do in Epsom.
Have your say
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