Robert Edward Reed was an architect and designer, who named all the houses he built for his family after his home town of Ebbisham, the old english name for Epsom.

The name of Epsom derives from Ebbi's ham, Ebbi being a land-owning Saxon lady about whom very little is known. Thus Ebbisham was the home or habitation or Ebb, or Ebbi or Ebba, probably the founder or an early resident, thought by some to be Queen Ebbi ¹. The only relic from this period is a 7th century brooch found in Epsom and held now in the British Museum ².

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 Noviomagus (Cissa's Ceastr to the Saxons, later Chichester) to Londinium (London). The route northwards of this highway is broadly followed by the modern 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 London through Ewell - a Roman settlement pre-dating Epsom - and North Cheam. Ewell was formerly rendered as Etwelle, the place of water or wells ³.

Spelling of proper names was for a long time phonetic rather than standard, even into the seventeenth century and the name Ebbisham was recorded in a dozen different versions including Ebbyshame, Ebesham, Evesham, Epsam, Epsum, Hebsam (with an H), Epsham, etc. ; it is still in use today as a road name, as is also Ebba's Way. The current spelling came into use about 400 years ago ³.

The first Saxon settlements were named after important features of the landscape, such as the river's source which gave name to Ewell. When sites were cleared for villages, they were called ham, or 'enclosure'. At the foot of the Downs, where springwater rises readily from the chalk, there is a string of these settlements, from Cheam, 'enclosure by the felled trees', to Bookham, 'enclosure among the beeches'. Other settlements founded later along this dipslope were called tun, or 'village' ⁴. There were a string of settlements, many ending in -ham, along the northern slopes of the Downs, including Effingham, Bookham, and Cheam ².

The lands of Cuddington appear to have been partitioned from those of Ewell. The original rights of the tribal leaders to the woodland south of the Downs were partitioned among the lords of the new villages, so that each manor came to include a few farms in the Weald. Kingswood, which remained attached to Ewell, kept its name from the time when it paid royal tribute ⁴.

The middle history of the area is bound up with the Abbey of Chertsey, whose ownership of Ebbisham was confirmed by King Athelstan in 933. The town at the time of the Doomsday Book had 38 peasant households grouped near St. Martin's Church. Later, other small settlements grew up at the town pond (now the Market in the High Street), and also at Epsom Court, Horton, Woodcote, and Langley Vale. Some country houses were built in the 1500's. In the early 1600's, the therapeutic powers of the well on the common became known (some say because the cows refused to drink it !). Visitors flocked to take the waters, and, since they needed entertainment, a number of fine mansions and the Assembly Rooms were built, hotels and lodging houses were opened, all kinds of shops appeared, and bowling greens and other leisure pursuits were provided ².

It was discovered that the spring on Epsom Common was producing water with a high content of magnesium sulphate. The local cows, whose persistent refusal to drink from the spring first called attention to the water, were about the only ones unimpressed with the Epsom Salts and their much-trumpeted medicinal qualities. Moneyed Londoners came in droves to "take the water" and Epsom was quickly established as one of the country's first Spa towns, developing with riotous speed to keep up with the carriage-loads of wealthy hypochondriacs arriving on its doorstep.

Epsom Salts remained a profitable elixir for over a hundred years with a wealthy and famous Europe-wide clientele washing down their healthy jug of water with a few less medicinal pints in one of the many hostelries built during the period. On his business visits to Epsom, Samuel Pepys squeezed in a quaff of water and a quick jaunt to the emerging horse races. Others didn't get much further than the alehouses. As Daniel Defoe commented, "Ladies and Gentlemen go to Epsom in summer to divert or debauch, or perhaps both."   Waterloo House, built in 1690 as the New Tavern, is a survivor from this era, as are the Spread Eagle Tavern (now a furnishings store) and the Assembly Halls. The Spread Eagle was also the home of a dying Aubrey Beardlsey, who returned to his birthplace and saw out his days creating risqué illustrations in a darkened room. The original well that added salt to Epsom's name can be found, somewhat unsurprisingly, at the end of Well Street.

Once Bath took over as the spa town of choice for the discerning aristocrat, Epsom quietened down, making its trade with a new generation of sickly rich passing through on their way to the salt waters of Brighton beach. Activity was limited to the mansion construction of London merchants looking for substantial country retreats. The lull was short lived however, as the formalisation of the Epsom Derby in 1870 soon got the town's pulse racing again, not to mention carriage congestion stretching back to the capital ⁵.

The mathematical Kabalarians offer this for the meaning of the name Ebbi :
The name of Ebbi gives you a very inquisitive, restless, seeking nature. You feel impelled by intense desires that you cannot comprehend or satisfy. You have had the desire to accomplish something outstanding and to do something very worthwhile for humanity, especially early in your life. This name gives you a versatile, clever, analytical mind, but unfortunately you cannot direct your interest toward an undertaking for long, as you do not have the patience and practicality for systematic hard work and attention to detail. You resent obstacles, delays, and restrictions.
This name gives you ambition, high ideals, and much creative ability, but the intense dynamic nature is too often spent in feelings and in moods, rather than in constructive action. You desire to be your own boss, yet you find it difficult to stabilize your life and to settle down and be accumulative. Your feelings swing from optimism to pessimism. You can be very cynical and caustic, and you subject those around you to outbursts of temper and moods of self-pity. Your home-life particularly would suffer.
This name has given you an appreciation for refinement, and the better things in life such as art, music, and literature. You can express a very friendly, debonair personality to strangers which invariably makes a very favourable impression. It has been your experience that once you lose control to indulgent habits, for example, smoking, drinking, or emotional outbursts, it is very difficult to retain control.
Your health would be affected through a sensitive solar plexus and nervous system. Nervous disorders, nervous indigestion, and stomach ulcers could develop ⁶.

¹     Epsom Protection Society     Return
²     Epsom town page - history     Return
³     Epsom Protection Society     Return
⁴     Epsom town page - saxons     Return
⁵     Find-a-Property     Return
⁶     The Kabalarians     Return