Epsom/Ewell

[Feelingsensitive]

Does anyone know anything about Epsom and Ewell. We are currently in Raynes Park but are thinking of moving. I want this to be some where to stay put so 3 good sized bedrooms and good primaries and secondary schools are essential. WHats the area like in general and wheres best to look or avoid. Thanks.

[Feelingsensitive]

anyone?

[SouthernMeerkat]

We moved from Wandsworth to there, but have moved away as I never settled there and didnt' meet any 'kindred spirits' or PLU as my mother would say . I think if you are in Epsom itself, or on the leafy Surrey side it's 'nicer' than where we were. If you are Catholic, there is an outstanding primary on the Cheam/Ewell border (St Cecilia's) or St Joseph's in Epsom is good. Wallace Fields is very sought after. I stopped investigating schools though as we decided to move....

Not sure if that's at all helpful - but didn't want to leave your thread hanging! (If you want more info, then do email me at s w meer k a t @ hotmail. com without all of the spaces.....)

[Ewe]

I live in Epsom and have lived around here most of my life - probably easier if you ask some specific questions as I could ramble on for ages.

General area is very nice in my opinion. Schools wise, Wallace Fields is fantastic, outstanding ofsted report but quite tough to get into.

In Epsom there are two primary schools, St Martins CofE school which is fairly mediocre and Stamford Green which I hear good things about. There are several private options too if this is an option for you?

Secondary schools are Rosebery - all girls, ex grammar school, gets good results. Glyn is the boys school, also ex grammar I think and pretty good results.

Blenheim/Epsom and Ewell High are the other schools in the area. Both pretty average.

Areas to avoid are Longmead and Watersedge which are the two council estates. There are some nice new builds by Horton Park, the area around Epsom Common is nice. The really nice big houses are on the roads leading to Epsom Downs and on the Woodcote Estate (behind Epsom Hospital).

If there is anything else you want to know just shout and I'll do my best to answer

[Ewe]

Forgot to mention that there are two grammar schools that are commutable for secondary - Nonsuch Grammar for Girls and Sutton Grammar for Boys.

There is also Tiffins in Kingston but not the easiest journey in rush hour due to all of the traffic.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

We moved to Epsom from Raynes Park about 6 years ago ...

Property is pricey (I think you can get more for your cash), but it is handy for getting about and commuting up to London. There are a few areas - College area is quite a sought after area - the school catchment is good and the houses are lovely and old and superbly leafy and near the race course .. Then there is the newer housing developments on the other 'side' - the houses are new builds, modern and built in old hospital grounds. I suppose the olny areas really to avoid would be the Longmead Estate ..

The primary schools are okay - St Joseph's Catholic has a good name as does Wallace Fields - but I think the high schools are not the greatest and are oversubscribed. The other factor is that being on the Sutton/Kingston borders there is the option of selective grammer schools (Tiffin/ non-such/ Wallington).

[Rebeccaj]

We're in Epsom too. We moved from Fulham about 2 months ago! We're on the east side of the centre, in the newer housing on the old hospital grounds. For a little over the price of our 4 bed terrace with teeny patio in Fulham we got a large 5 bed. My daughter is at a lovely primary (S Green mentioned above), and DH commutes into the city.

Wallace Fields is the top primary, tho it is split into infants and juniors and you have to reapply - no automatic transfer - and it's highly sort after, so you need to live really close and property is expensive (4 beds 700k+). We decided to opt for a larger house near S Green, which is also a great school. We like it so far!

[Feelingsensitive]

Thanks all. Whats the town like? Is it quiet?

[Itsjustafleshwound]

Epsom is okay for shopping - there is a small Waitrose in the town centre and has the usual suspects shop-wise. There is a large Sainsbos in the industrial area and is a bit of a walk from town centre.

There are one or two independent stores and Croydon/Sutton/Kingston is nearby if you need your shopping fix.

The nice thing about Epsom is that there are a lot of good parks nearby, there is Epsom common, Epsom racetrack and Horton Country Park for lots of open spaces and to let our children run about.

There is a good, big library in the town centre, a farmers market beg of every month and a Saturday market.

The best thing is to take a trip down to Epsom and see what you think ...

[EyeballsintheSky]

In Epsom too (was brought up in Raynes Park!). It's a really nice market town, buzzing on Sats particularly but nice and busy during the week, not manically so though. Yes usual suspects for shops, Boots, Next, Marks etc. Lots of greenery around so you feel nice and far out from London although you're not really (I commute in).

Definitely recommend it. I love it.

[Feelingsensitive]

I want this to be our last move for a long while. I have a boy and girl and in the long term like the look of Rosebery and Glyn schools. Whereabouts would I need to live to be close enough to both or is that just wishful thinking.

[Rebeccaj]

Pretty much all of Epsom falls into the likely catchment for both (they don't have catchments per se, they are like the primaries and admit on a variety of criteria including siblings and distance. Glyn also allocate 15% of places via a general ability test designed to allow boys further away to get a place). North Ewell would struggle to get into Rosebury by distance. They are (very) roughly north and south of Epsom, so anywhere along the middle/east/west is roughly between the two!

[Feelingsensitive]

Thanks all. A few more questions. Whats the town like at night? Much trouble? I know there are two estates near by. Does that cause any problems within the community as Epsom is generally considered very middle class. Just wandered if there is a big polarisation between people or does everyone get along OK?

[Kinia]

Hi All,
We are also thinking of moving to Ewell. We both commute to London and have two boys, one of school age. We live in Earlsfield at the moment and love it but house prices have gone through the roof :-( so need to move a little further out to have more space. I have done a lot of research on schools and we pretty much figured out where we want to be but my husband is really concerned about living so close to the Ewell Bypass. It's so busy, even at the weekends. Ewell village is nice too but again, the traffic was awful!
Was is just me or bad luck on the few days we were there?
Any advise would be much appreciated on schools and generally living around Ewell area.

[desag]

Hi - I'm thinking of moving to Ewell (Station Ave.) just by the Ewell West train station. Is this far enough away from the Longmeade housing estate? I've got twins that will be starting primary school so would it's important for me to feel good about the area but I don't really know very much about it as I'm not from the area. I'm also worried about getting into schools as it's going to be late to get in (August at this point). Our other option is Sutton. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Rogerthatmummy]

I think you had bad luck - yes the by pass is always busy, but not horrendous. I used to live in Wimbledon and it would take 30 mins to drive half a mile.... No where near that level of busy in ewell.

Primary schools in ewell all at least 'good' I think : ewell grove infants and west ewell infants both outstanding. Ewell grove, west ewell infants and dantree junior are planned to turn all three into primaries which is a good thing to my mind (dd1 starts west ewell in sept) so takes some of the pressure off for junior applications for those with young children!

Station ave yes I would say not on longmead's doorstep so fine ... We are about to move 1/2 mile closer to west ewell station just around the corner from station ave. it's no closer to longmead than where we are moving to and I'm not worried and I'm a right snob!

[Rogerthatmummy]

Kinla with boys, Ewell would be right up your street. I have friends with two boys (eldest just starting school in sept) and they've just moved into a lovely large house in west side of Epsom, and they are already planning the right time to move to ewell to guarantee places at Glyn.

Ewell village has enough of everything you need (supermarkets, pubs, restaurants, sweetshop' expensive but lovely butcher, and cafe) but Epsom, and kingston close by for 'proper' shopping...

[desag]

Thanks so much - really helpful and makes me feel better!

[Kazzalo]

Hi I hope all went well for your move to Ewell. Please help we are looking at buying a house in the kingsway right next to and backing onto Glyn school (is it madly busy with hundreds of school children?) and wondered if anyone could offer advice. Our children are 1 and 3 only so looking at the primary school Ewell grove being 0.5 miles would we get in next year ? Any advice is greatly appreciated as we feel like we are going round in circles !

[ZebraCath]

I live about 0.5 miles from Ewell Grove & had no problems getting in a couple of years ago. However, it's only an Infant school at present (this might change at some point, but no definite plans) so you'll need to look at your distance to either Wallace Fields (fab school, but you need to be really close) or Danetree (which may be quite far if you're near Glynn).
Hope that helps!

[lholland900]

I moved to Ewell Village from Clapham/Balham area and really love it. I was a bit lost as to where to head to after "Nappy Valley" and it took a good 18 months of driving around SW London until we came across Ewell Village. I thought I'd provide some up to date details as I know how tricky it is working out where to move.
We moved here because of the good commute into the city, and excellent primary/secondary schools. Ewell Grove School (which is turning into a Junior school) and Wallace Fields are both Ofsted Outstanding. I can vouch for Ewell Grove being excellent and our next door neighbours' children go to Wallace Fields and are very happy there, their eldest girl goes to Rosebery (secondary - Outstanding) and the village is also in the catchment for Glyn school (another Outstanding secondary) - both are currently in the top 10% - league table wise and both have sixth forms.
The village is a conservation area so nice and leafy. There's a village footpath leading to Nonsuch Park and the London Loop starts at Bourne Hall and runs through the Hogsmill river nature reserve and onto Horton Country Park. The village has a number of little shops for all the essentials and Epsom is a 5 min bus ride or 20 min walk for more shops, or you can take a bus to Kingston.
Ewell Village is 5 mins walk from Ewell West station and 10/12mins walk from Ewell East station (both Zone 6 so you can still use Oyster). From Ewell West there are 4 fast trains (35 mins) and 2 slow (45 mins) every hour at peak times direct to Waterloo (and 4 off peak taking 33 mins). From Ewell East station you can go direct to London Victoria, trains take between 32 and 45mins or direct to London Bridge taking 40 to 45mins (direct trains to London Bridge are only in mornings & evenings though). After a late night out my husband usually gets the Northern Line to Morden, then takes an Uber which takes 10/15mins to the village, also handy if the overland ever goes down! Not sure how old your children are but there are lots of baby groups in Epsom and the village, and a number of fantastic nurseries. I know how hard it is to make the decision to move so good luck!

[sreddy]

Hi, Does anyone live near Ewell East area? thinking of buying a house near Ewell East train station. There is a new housing estate being built there now. Its quite pricey. But seems to be close wallace fields & ewell grove infants and also close enough to glyn. Drove around few times and it seems quite and nice. My DD is 7 and DS is 2, and looking for some nicer area both for schools and living. Any thing that I should be worried about?

[Leleophants]

Bump!

Which streets are nicest to live in near Ewell? I know some are better than others and better for certain primary schools.

[MovingThisYearDefinitely]

Zombie thread

[Orchardgreen]

Well, it might be an old thread but someone wants it resurrected.

The nicest areas of Ewell are the village side of the bypass.
Kingsway, West Street and the streets off it, also anywhere around Church Street. Anywhere within five/ten minutes walk of the village shops.

The College area of Epsom is nice.

Interestingly, the sales office of the new development next to Nescot, say that lots of the buyers of the more expensive houses are from SW London, looking for better value than Southfields, Wimbledon, Twickenham etc.

[Clockhands]

It used to be very quiet and community minded but unfortunately the element has now moved in and the place has taken a turn for the worse. Crack heads reside in the local travelodge and frequent the shops pushing prices through the roof. I personally can't wait to get out as I find it has become hostile. Good luck you can have my space.