Today
In August 2005 the borough of Epsom and Ewell was rated the most desirable place to live in the United Kingdom by the British television programme The Best and Worst Place to Live in the UK, although in 2006 it dropped to 8th place. The borough's low crime rate, good education results and large number of open spaces were all cited as especially attractive features, although it lost marks due to a 'lack of entertainment facilities'.
One of Ewell's most notable landmarks is the architecturally impressive Bourne Hall, situated in the centre of the town. Originally the site of Garbrand Hall, a large country mansion, Bourne Hall is now a modernist circular structure with a central glass dome, and is surrounded by an attractive public park. The building, which is reminiscent of an immense flying saucer, hosts a public library, subterranean theatre, gymnasium, cafe, and local museum. It regularly holds gatherings such as fayres, Yoga and Karate lessons.
Ewell has a Parish Church (Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell), which was designed by Henry Clutton and consecrated in 1848. The current building stands in a prominent position near the centre of the village on the old London Road. A replacement for an earlier church building on the site, it was built in a form of the Decorated Gothic style, and faced with Swanage stone with Bath stone mullions and tracery. The church is home to the 1889 'Father' Henry Willis pipe organ.
Unlike most parts of Epsom, Ewell has telephone numbers using the London 020 area code, an anomaly shared with Chigwell and Loughton in Essex. Ewell also has an unusually large telephone exchange, next door to the Spring pub, which was fitted with underground facilities designed to survive a nuclear conflict during the late years of the Cold War.
It was transferred in 2000 from the Metropolitan Police, in whose district it had been placed since 1839, to the jurisdiction of Surrey Police.
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