Our client was seeking permission to replace the ground floor bay windows with associated structural and cosmetic works on the property. They asked us to support the proposal with a heritage statement to clarify matters with a view to allowing the application to proceed to determination.

The application site is located the historic town of Epsom. The town derives its name from ‘Ebba’s ham’, where ‘ham’ translates to farmstead or settlement. ‘Ebba’ is a personal name from the Anglo-Saxon period and was likely the principal founder or landowner.

By 933, Epsom’s manor was owned by the Abbey of Chertsey and recorded as ‘Evesham’ in the Domesday survey of 1086.

In the17th century, a natural spring was discovered being high in magnesium sulphate and used for bathing. The inhabitants capitalised on the discovery, and the spring was formalised, leading to the growth of Epsom as a spa town.

Due to the pre-eminence of Bath, the town’s popularity as a spa resort was to decline during the 18th century, however the town itself continued to grow.

The town would continue to develop over the 20th century with major developments including the Ashley Centre, which served to modernise the town.

Against such a background, the property was constructed as a house in the late 17th or early 18th century. The centre of the town developed rapidly over the 19th century and, likely capitalising on its location near the main thoroughfare of the High Street, the building was extended to its ground floor front with a double bow-window shopfront.

Notwithstanding the actual reasons behind the property’s present status and condition, and whilst recognising that best conservation practice has progressed since the late C20, it is necessary to note that said status and condition is unfortunately our starting point, and again, that the changes effected there, were, for better or worse, approved by the authority and are therefore regularised.