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Talk:1913 in film

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Rather than just having lists of birthdays, it would be useful and helpful to have more information about the films that were released. The Silent Era is fascinating, and a lot of great films were made. Besides, the birthdays were not that important in 1913.

BTW, same goes for all the other years. Danny 04:00 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC)

 * Let's have both. Add any info you want about the films. I intend to add more info on the movies myself but at the moment I'm adding a few birthdays. Someone looking into the history of film might be interested to know when different stars were born. -Jazz77

Sure, that's what I meant, as long as the films are there too. Danny 04:06 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC)

 * Oh, absolutely. I'd love for these pages to go more into detail as to how film styles changed, technology evolved, etc.. There are a lot of "movie timelines" on the net, but very few of them are really that interesting to read.. I'd love for these pages to be more "useful" than any of the others out there. -Jazz77

Before the page gets any bigger, can I just ask, am I the only person who finds the use of the present tense somewhat disconcerting here? "Chaplin's film WAS made in 1913" makes sense. The Real Walrus 16:01, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Actually, what disturbs me more than the verbal tense is that I've never heard of a Chaplin film made in 1913. I thought he started in 1914. Does anyone know of a film Chaplin made in 1913? -- Rizzleboffin 16:14, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

 * A quick bit of Googling shows IMDB lists his first film as 1914. I also find this info:
 * * 29 December 1913 Signs contract with Keystone
 * * Jan/Feb 1914 Charlie Chaplin's first film: Making a Living
 * I suggest moving the sentence to the 1914 page. Does anyone object? -- Rizzleboffin 17:52, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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Talk:1946 in film

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On http://www.worldwideboxoffice.com the top grossing films are listed as

RANK DOMESTIC  OVERSEAS     WORLD  "" TITLES (1946-1946)

0001 $   56.4       n/a  $   56.4  Song of the South (1946) 0002 $   23.6       n/a  $   23.6  Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946) 0003 $   20.4       n/a  $   20.4  Duel in the Sun (1946) 0004 $    8.0       n/a  $    8.0  Notorious (1946) 0005 $    5.2       n/a  $    5.2  Yearling, The (1946) 0006 $    5.0       n/a  $    5.0  Razor's Edge, The (1946) 0007 $    3.2       n/a  $    3.2  Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) 0008 $    3.0       n/a  $    3.0  Without Reservations (1946)

Some difference from those listed on this page. What is the source? Mintguy

Change it. As said on the other page, I used U.S. lists because I couldn't find a good worldwide list for specific years. Drop the movies that shouldn't be there down to "other films" and add this list as the top grossing films. If you don't want to, I'll do it when I have the time -Jazz77

Well as you can see from the above list, the worldwide receipts arn't included, so if your list is US Box office is should concur. As it stands either could be right or wrong, what is your source? It might be more authoritative. Mintguy

 * Oh, I see.. didn't notice that the list above was incomplete. I think I used IMDB for a lot of my lists, but I got some from other sites as well. -Jazz77

http://us.imdb.com/Sections/Years/

 * Right. Top grossing movies for 1946 not listed on IMDB. So with your permission I'll use this list. Mintguy

 * Actually, my link went to the wrong place... Here's 1946 on IMDB. -Jazz77

http://us.imdb.com/Sections/Years/1946/top-grossing

 * That's weird the page for 1946 (and some other years I looked at) doesn't contain a link to the top grossing films of that year even though that page does exist. Mintguy

Also (and more annoyingly) looking at box office for song of the south on IMDB lists it as doing 29.228m business, which is higher than the top film listed for that year on IMDB (Notorious), but the figure is different from http://www.worldwideboxoffice.com. Mintguy

title: Talk:1946 in film


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Spenserian stanza

The Spenserian stanza is a fixed verse form invented by Edmund Spenser for his epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590–96). Each stanza contains nine lines in total: eight lines in iambic pentameter followed by a single 'alexandrine' line in iambic hexameter. The rhyme scheme of these lines is ABABBCBCC.

Example stanza
This example is the first stanza from Spenser's Faerie Queene. The formatting, wherein all lines but the first and last are indented, is the same as in contemporary printed editions. Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske, As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds, Am now enforst a far unfitter taske, For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds, And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds; Whose prayses having slept in silence long, Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds To blazon broad emongst her learned throng: Fierce warres and faithfull loues shall moralize my song.

Possible influences
Spenser's invention may have been influenced by the Italian form ottava rima, which consists of eight lines of iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme ABABABCC. This form was used by Spenser's Italian role models Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso.

Another possible influence is rhyme royal, a traditional medieval form used by Geoffrey Chaucer and others, which has seven lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme ABABBCC. More likely, however, is the eight-line ballad stanza with the rhyme scheme ABABBCBC, which Chaucer used in his Monk's Tale. Spenser would have been familiar with this rhyme scheme and simply added a line to the stanza, forming ABABBCBCC.

Use by others
Spenser's verse form fell into disuse in the period immediately following his death. However, it was revived in the nineteenth century by several notable poets, including:
 * Mary Tighe in Psyche or the Legend of Love
 * Gerard Manley Hopkins in The Escorial (1860)
 * Robert Southey in A Tale of Paraguay
 * Lord Byron in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
 * James Hogg in Mador of the Moor
 * John Keats in The Eve of St. Agnes and Imitation of Spenser
 * Percy Bysshe Shelley in The Revolt of Islam and Adonaïs
 * Sir Walter Scott in The Vision of Don Roderick.
 * Robert Burns in "The Cotter's Saturday Night", which shows his ability to use English forms while praising Scotland.
 * William Wordsworth in "The Female Vagrant", included in Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads
 * Alfred, Lord Tennyson in The Lotos-Eaters, in the first part of the poem.
 * John Clare in The Harvest Morning and November
 * George Washington Moon in Elijah the Prophet
 * John Frederick Rowbotham in The Epic of London
 * John Neihardt in The Divine Enchantment
 * William Cullen Bryant in The Ages
 * Sibella Elizabeth Miles in The Wanderer of Scandinavia; or, Sweden Delivered

In Eastern Europe, English stanzaic forms were not very popular, these countries being too far from England's literary influence. Neither rhyme royal nor the Spenserian stanza occurred frequently. English rhyme schemes remained unknown until the early 19th century, when Lord Byron's poems gained enormous popularity. In Poland the Spenserian stanza was used by Juliusz Słowacki and Jan Kasprowicz. In Czech literature Jaroslav Vrchlický wrote some poems in the Spenserian stanza, among others Stvoření světa (The Creation of the World):

Similar forms
In the long poem The Forest Sanctuary, Felicia Hemans employs a similar nine-line stanza, rhyming ABABCCBDD, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the ninth an alexandrine.

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International Society for Krishna Consciousness

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. It was founded on 13 July 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Its main headquarters is located in Mayapur, West Bengal, India.

Its unique form of monotheistic core beliefs are based on Hindu scriptures, particularly Prabhupada's commentaries and translations of the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana. ISKCON is "the largest and, arguably, most important branch" of Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which has had adherents in India since the early 16th century and its American and European devotees since the mid and late 20th century. It has around 10 million followers worldwide.

The religious organization practices vegetarianism and was initially formed to spread the practice of Bhakti yoga. Its followers, called bhaktas, dedicate both their thoughts and actions towards pleasing Krishna, whom they consider the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Its most rapid expansion in registered membership has been within India and (after the collapse of the Soviet Union) in Russia and other formerly Soviet-aligned states of Eastern Europe.

History and belief

ISKCON devotees follow a disciplic line of Gaudiya Vaishnavas and are the largest branch of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Vaishnavism means 'worship of Vishnu', and Gauḍa refers to the area where this particular branch of Vaishnavism originated, in the Gauda region of West Bengal and Bangladesh. Gaudiya Vaishnavism has had a following in India, especially West Bengal and Odisha, for the past five hundred years. Gaudiya Vaishnavism was founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who rapidly spread his form of ecstatic bhakti (devotion) throughout Bengal. He established Sankirtan, the practice of publicly expressing devotion to Krishna, the Supreme God, through dance and song. This form of communal worship responded to rigid caste structures by engaging all people in worship regardless of caste and creed. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu emphasized chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra (the 'great mantra'). He is considered by Gaudiya Vaishnavas to be an incarnation of Krishna himself.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, believed to have direct lineage with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, brought Chaitanya's Gaudiya Vaishnavism to the West in 1965. At 70 years old, he landed in New York without any money (40 rupees of Indian currency). Instead of preaching to New York's elite, he tapped into the 1960s countercultural spirit by preaching and chanting in public parks and attracting hippies and the youth. His movement, then known as the "Hare Krishna Movement", grew even larger when he relocated to San Francisco a year later. When it spread to England, it gained publicity and financial backing from the Beatles' George Harrison. He recorded several tracks with the Hare Krishnas and included the Mahamantra in his hit track "My Sweet Lord". The first Hare Krishna commune, New Vrindavan (West Virginia), was established by Prabhupada in 1968. Since then, ISKCON has established more than 800 centers all over the world and has millions of followers.

Key to the spread of Gaudiya Vaishnava theology in the Western world were Prabhupada's writings and translations, including the Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), Chaitanya Charitamrita, and other scriptures. These works are now available in more than seventy languages and serve as the scriptures of ISKCON.

Singular worship of Krishna
ISKCON describes Krishna as the original source of all the avatars of the Almighty God. Registered members worship Krishna as the highest form of God, svayam bhagavan, and often refer to him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in their published writing, which was a phrase coined by Prabhupada in his books on the subject.

For its devotees, Radha represents Krishna's divine female counterpart, the original spiritual potency, and the embodiment of devotional love. The individual soul has an eternal spiritual identity which does not ultimately merge into the non-dual consciousness (Brahman) as believed by the monistic (Advaita) schools of Hinduism. Prabhupada most frequently offers Sanatana-dharma and Varnashrama dharma as more accurate names for the religious system which accepts Vedic authority.

Pious believers both teach and claim that Krishna is greater and far magnanimous than the traditionalist Hindu Trimurti of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma and all its conceived emanations. It is a monotheistic tradition which has its roots in the theistic Vedanta traditions.

Religious practices
The most famous and publicly recognizable ISKCON practice is kirtan, a congregational chanting or singing of the Hare Krishna mantra. Kirtan is both a way to express devotion to God and a way to attract newcomers to the movement. Devotees gather in public, in streets and parks, to sing the mantra accompanied by instruments like the mridanga, hand cymbals, and the harmonium. During the 1970s, ISKCON entered the public eye because of this practice. Devotees would sing, distribute books, and proselytize in airports and other public areas, often obtrusively. Sankirtan continues throughout the world today, but in a less confrontational manner.

Japa is another important religious practice within ISKCON and Gaudiya Vaishnavism. It is the meditative practice of repeatedly chanting the names of Krishna on a set of prayer beads. Its believers chant a mantra:

"Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare"

on the chanting bead. This mantra is repeated 108 times on the bead. Devotees usually chant 16 rounds of this everyday. It is considered the only way of salvation for people in the current age of Kali. Prabhupada established a standard for initiated devotees to chant sixteen rounds of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra on a Japamala containing 108 beads, daily. Each round consists of 1728 repetitions of the names of Krishna.

Arati is also an important tenet (also called puja) of ISKCON. During arati, devotees offer water, incense, a fire lamp, and flowers to a murti, a sacred statue or image of Krishna. This is accompanied by prayers and devotional songs called bhajans. Practitioners may perform arati at their own home or congregate at a temple to join in the ceremony. Along with this worship, devotees will bathe the murti, dress it, offer it food, and even put it to sleep. By doing arati and serving the murti, devotees aim to deepen their relationship with Krishna.

ISKCON devotees meet regularly (typically on Sunday at a program known as the Sunday Feast) to worship deities, listen to discourses by senior devotees, participate in kirtan and eat sanctified offered food prasadam. Devotees place great emphasis on listening to spiritual discourses, believing them to be a key role in spiritual advancement.

Four Regulative Principles
During initiation (diksha) ISKCON devotees vow to follow four basic rules and regulations.
 * The consumption of only lacto-vegetarian diet (abstinence from meat, fish, eggs).
 * Prohibition against consuming any intoxicants (i.e., onion, garlic, coffee, caffeinated drinks, tea, tobacco cigarettes, drugs and alcohol)
 * Prohibition against gambling
 * Prohibition against draining sexual energy by engaging in 'illicit sexual activity and relationships' outside of marriage.

Celebrated festivals
Besides weekly gatherings, devotees within the ISKCON movement celebrate a diverse array of Hindu festivals, including Janmashtami, Radhastami, Diwali, Gaura Purnima, Ekadasi, Holi, Rama Navami, and Gita Jayanti.

The Ratha Yatra Festival of Chariots is an annual parade whereby devotees chant and dance on the street, pulling a chariot with the deities of Jagannatha, Balabhadra, and Subhadra behind them. This public procession is typically followed by performances and free vegetarian food.

Public preaching
ISKCON advocates preaching. Members try to spread Krishna consciousness primarily by singing the Hare Krishna mantra in public places and by selling Indian spiritual books transcribed from their original languages and published in English by the movement's founder, Prabhupada.

A study conducted by the American researcher E. Burke Rochford Jr. at the University of California found that there are four types of contact between those in ISKCON and prospective members: individually motivated contact, contact made with members in public areas, contact made through personal connections, and contact with sympathizers of the movement who strongly encourage people to join.

Organizational management
Prabhupada spent much of the last decade of his life setting up the institution of ISKCON.

The Governing Body Commission (or GBC) is the managerial authority of ISKCON. Created by Bhaktivedanta in 1970, it meets annually. In a document Direction of Management written on 28 July 1970 Prabhupada appointed twelve members to the commission, all of them non-sannyasi, including Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, Hansadutta Swami, and Tamala Krishna Goswami. The letter outlined the purposes of the commission: improving the standard of temple management, the spread of Krishna consciousness, the distribution of books and literature, the opening of new centers and the education of the devotees. GBC has since grown in size to include 48 senior members from the movement who make decisions based on consensus of opinion.

Shortly after establishing the GBC, Prabhupada asked his newly appointed leaders to renounce the everyday world and become sannyasis (renunciate monks), indicating that those who set policy would not be involved with financial dealings. However, after Prabhupada's death some GBC members adopted lavish lifestyles. A number of schisms tested the notion of the supreme authority of the GBC. Some of these scandals involved GBC members Hans Kary (Hansadutta) and James Immel (Jayatirtha), as well as one of the leaders of the New Vrindaban community, Keith Ham (Kirtanananda), who surrounded himself with opulence and declared himself the only true successor to Prabhupada.

In 1982, the GBC began the slow process of adding new gurus to the original eleven. In 1983 the GBC was announced to be the highest ecclesiastical authority of ISKCON. In 1985 the decision was made to lower the standard of living for ISKCON leadership. After much heated discussion, the GBC decided to "relieve" a number of leaders and new leaders were selected. The young leaders of the GBC sought the advice of one of Prabhupada's Gaudiya godbrothers, and endeavored to become more integrated in the broader Hindu community.

After years of discussion and reforms, a general consensus emerged to accept women as leaders in ISKCON, overriding the former GBC supposition that "unprotected, 'women leaders become subject to various forms of mistreatment and abuse'". In 1998, Malati Devi Dasi became the first woman appointed to the GBC. The second woman leader, Dina Sharana, was selected in 2009.

Succession of teachings
Prabhupada claimed to belong to the traditional system of paramparā, or disciplic succession, in which teachings upheld by scriptures are handed down from master to disciple, generation after generation.

Women's roles
Women's roles are a controversial issue within ISKCON, and its members have strongly divergent opinions regarding the interpretation of Prabhupada's teachings on gender roles. While some of its leaders advocate that women should take public leadership roles, other leaders disagree, and maintain that "traditional" roles for women are more appropriate. Concerns have been expressed regarding the perceived potential for adverse effects stemming from feminist ideals infiltrating the regulations of ISKCON.

Since women is the most respected position in Vedic culture, women within the Hare Krishna community are all viewed with reverence, especially by celibate male monks, also known as brahmacharis. "Mataji" (lit. Mother) is a term of respect for women in ISKCON, and is often prefixed to the Sanskrit name they receive in initiation. Unmarried women are referred to in this term.

After years of discussion and reforms, a general consensus emerged to accept women as leaders and initiators in ISKCON. In 1998, Malati Devi Dasi became the first woman appointed to the GBC. The second woman leader, Dina Sharana, was selected in 2009.

A document released by the GBC in 2019 stating that it was permissible for women to become initiating gurus within the ISKCON movement.

Office for Child Protection
In 1998, ISKCON published an exposé of widespread physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children in the group's boarding schools in the United States and India in the 1970s and 1980s. The report stated that the monks and young devotees caring for the children had no training in the task and often resented having to perform it. At a meeting in 1996, former young members testified that they had been regularly beaten at school, denied medical care, and sexually molested and raped.

In 2002, a suit for $900million was filed in Texas State Court by alleged victims of abuse in ISKCON boarding schools. ISKCON later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The eventual 2008 settlement in what became known as the Turley Case was $15million.

The ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection department office was established by the GBC in 1997. It released its first official Child Protection Policy and Procedure Guidelines. The CPO has provided Child Protection Information Training to over 500 child care providers within the organization internationally and continues to file and review reports on local Child Protection Teams in 2005. The Child Protection Policy and Procedure Guidelines were revised and ratified by the GBC in June 2018.

Kirtan and musical influence
The practice of mantra chanting and devotional singing, also known as kirtan, is prominent in the ISKCON movement. Dedicated kirtan festivals are held annually around the world, such as the Sadhu Sanga Retreat in Boone, North Carolina, Kirtan 50 in Dallas, Texas, and Radhadesh Mellows, in Durbuy, Belgium. Notable kirtaneers include Jahnavi Harrison, Gaura Vani, and the Mayapuris, who have all released kirtan albums. Kirtan sessions are also held outside of temple settings, including at a local university "Bhakti Clubs", mantra lounges, and at a yoga and wellness festivals.

Full theatrical performances have been produced based on the Vedic theologies. Prominent performance companies include Viva Kultura and Vande Arts. The Hare Krishna mantra appears in some famous songs, such as former Beatle George Harrison's 1970 hit "My Sweet Lord". John Lennon included the phrase "Hare Krishna" in his lyrics to "Give Peace a Chance" and the Beatles' 1967 track "I Am the Walrus". The backing vocalists also sing the phrase in Ringo Starr's 1971 hit "It Don't Come Easy", written with the help of Harrison, although the words were mixed low on the released version.

Of the four Beatles, only Harrison fully embraced Krishna Consciousness. He also provided financial support for ISKCON's UK branch and in 1973 purchased Bhaktivedanta Manor for their temple compound. Harrison enjoyed a warm friendship with Prabhupada, who provided the inspiration for Harrison songs such as "Living in the Material World".

In the 1980s, underground New York City hardcore punk band the Cro-Mags included Hare Krishna members and made references to Krishna Consciousness. By the early 1990s, an entire underground Krishnacore subgenre was established with other New York hardcore bands like Shelter and 108.

In 2020, Willow Smith and Jahnavi Harrison collaborated on the song "Surrender (Krishna Keshava"), and the album "RISE", featuring ancient sacred songs from India with Sanskrit lyrics.

Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is one of the four tenets of ISKCON. Due to Prabhupada's focus on food distribution, many ISKCON devotees have opened vegan and vegetarian eateries. Not all restaurants opened by ISKCON members are officially affiliated with ISKCON, although many Govindas' restaurants or catering businesses operate out of the main temple center.

The ISKCON followers refer to their diet as 'Krishnatarian'. According to them "A Krishnatarian meal is one which is cooked using fresh, vegetarian ingredients (excluding onion, garlic, red lentils and mushrooms) and milk products which is cooked by an Iskcon follower and offered to their main deities before it is distributed and consumed."

Demographics
ISKCON claims to have around one million congregational members worldwide (majority in India), with 15,000 in Great Britain.

In the West it "has a relatively small number of followers", estimated at "a few thousand full-time practitioners", but those showing interest in its activities might number into the "tens of thousands."

After considerable success in the West due to the counterculture of the 1960s, ISKCON lost its momentum from the early 1980s onward, "facing a sharp decline in membership and in financial resources" in North America and in Western Europe, while in the late 1990s the situation began to deteriorate in Eastern Europe as well. In 2000, it was estimated that only 750–900 members were residing in ISKCON centers in the United States. Since then, ISKCON has depended on the Indian diaspora to "revitalize" the movement; in most North American congregations Indian members making up 80% of the numbers.

Criticism and controversies
ISKCON has experienced a number of significant internal problems, the majority of which occurred from the late 1970s onwards, and especially within the decade following Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's death. ISKCON has also been scrutinised by some anti-cult movements.

Accordingly, the organization has also been widely criticized for alleged re-translation of various traditionalist Hindu scriptures by their own publishing company, which alleges that other Hindu gods are either ignored, censored or demoted to the lesser status or secondary tier as "Demi-gods", while only promoting Krishna as singular and highest form of "Supreme Godhead".

 * In a 1976 case, People v. Murphy, a criminal trial court in Queens County, New York held that "'[T]he Hare Krishna religion is a bona fide religion with roots in India that go back thousands of years." A grand jury indicted Iskcon, Inc. and the president of an ISKCON temple for the crime of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree. Although the parents of two Hare Krishna members claimed ISKCON had allegedly imprisoned their children through brainwashing, Justice John J. Leahy dismissed the criminal indictments on the basis that the two members had freely followed the tenets of their chosen faith.
 * In a 1984 case, George v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California, a lawsuit led to lengthy appeals resulting in a mixed judgment. Marcia and Robin George, a mother and daughter, accused ISKCON of kidnapping Robin via brainwashing and later lying to her parents about her whereabouts. They sued ISKCON for false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, libel, and the wrongful death of Robin's father based on stress caused by the alleged circumstances. A California state appellate court dismissed Robin's claims for false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress on the basis that she was not brainwashed, but rather was "a bright and gifted high school student of above-average intelligence and maturity" who was "capable of consenting" to her travels with her purported kidnappers. On the other hand, the same appellate court affirmed the jury verdicts holding ISKCON liable for intentional infliction of emotional distress against Marcia and wrongful death because the defendants had deliberately lied to Robin's parents about her location while actively assisting Robin in her travels. The court also dismissed Robin's libel claim while affirming the jury verdict of libel in favor of Marcia.
 * Kirtanananda Swami, or Swami Bhaktipada, a leader of ISKCON, was expelled from the organisation in 1987 for various deviations. He was the leader of New Vrindaban, the largest and most famous Hare Krishna community in the United States at that time. In 1996, Kirtanananda pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering and after serving 8 years of a 20-year prison sentence was subsequently released in 2004. Previously, in 1991, the jury had found him guilty of racketeering and mail fraud. These convictions were later overturned on appeal, only to result in the later retrial.
 * In the 1990s, ISKCON faced accusations of child abuse, and its leaders acknowledged physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children who were sent to live in the rural communities' boarding schools in the United States and India in the 1970s and 1980s. Sociologist of religion E. Burke Rochford argues that a culture of abuse in ISKCON schools arose in part because of renunciant leaders' subtle denigration of the value of householders and children. Several safety regulations and subcommittees, such as ISKCON Resolve and the ISKCON Child Protection Office, have been developed since these allegations to ensure that the legal rights, as well as the health and safety of devotees, are protected.

Persecution

 * On January 21, 1974, two firebombs were tossed into the Hare Krishna temple in Knoxville, Tennessee. Allen Bruce North, 22, a member, died of his injuries (burns over 80% of his body) several days later at St. Mary's Hospital. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. William North of Baltimore, were at his side. Governor Winfield Dunn offered a $2000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
 * In 2006, a bomb blast struck the ISKCON temple in Imphal in Manipur, India. Five devotees were killed and a further 50 were injured. The attack was not claimed by any individual or organization.
 * In 2007, the Kazakhstan government authorities demolished 25 homes belonging to the ISKCON members in Sri Vrindavan Dham commune in Almaty, on the grounds that they were illegal constructions.
 * In 2009, an orphanage run by the ISKCON Chittagong (Sri Sri Radha Madhava Mandir) in Bangladesh was attacked by unknown men. The gang vandalised furniture and a statue in the orphanage and beat the devotees. They also tried to take control of the temple and the orphanage.
 * In 2015, the ISKCON Temple, Dinajpur in Bangladesh was attacked by Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh terrorists. The terrorists opened fire and at least two people were injured in the attack.
 * In 2016, the ISKCON Sylhet in Bangladesh was attacked by Muslims and at least ten people were injured in that attack.
 * In 2018, the gate of the ISKCON Temple in Curitiba, Brazil was targeted by unknown perpetrators. The painting of Krishna with his mother Yashoda was defaced.
 * In 2018, Rath Yatra organised by ISKCON Dhaka in Bangladesh was attacked by a group of people, leaving six devotees injured.
 * In 2020, an Ansar al-Islam group planned an attack on the ISKCON Temple Dhaka but police arrested them.
 * In 2021, during Navami (15 October), a Muslim mob attacked the ISKCON temple in Noakhali, Bangladesh and killed two devotees.

India
India has the highest density of ISKCON centers in the world, with over 800 temples, 12 state-recognized educational institutions, 25 affiliated and non-affiliated restaurants, and a number of tourist and pilgrimage hotels. ISKCON India disciples are more conservative than the ISKCON disciples in the west.

Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir of the Vedic Planetarium, Mayapur

Set to be completed in 2024, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, Mayapur in West Bengal is built in the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the founder of the Gaudiya-Vaishnava lineage of Hinduism. The temple itself currently sits at 425,000 sqft and is 340 ft tall, and is surrounded by accompanying lodges, shops, residences, educational centers, and gardens. The project cost an estimated $75million, with its major investor being Alfred B. Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford. The complex has a planetarium based on Vedic cosmology and exhibitions about the Vedic arts, sciences, and culture as described in the Srimad Bhagavatam.

Sri Krishna-Balaram Mandir, Vrindavan

Located in the Raman Reti area of Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, the Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir temple was built in the original village where the spiritual figures Krishna and Balarama are said to have resided in the Vedic period of Indian history. It is built in close proximity to other holy sites such as the village of Gokul, Govardhana Hill, the Mathura palace, and various holy lakes. As a result, ISKCON Vrindavan is a common pilgrimage site for followers of the Krishna Conscious movement. The complex is home to a guesthouse, a museum, gift shops, a restaurant, a bakery, a broadcast studio as well as a marble temple hall. The temple is also affiliated with the Vrindavan Institute of Higher Education.

Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir
In March 2014, the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir temple project was inaugurated, and on 16 November 2014, the foundation stone of the temple was laid. Overseen by ISKCON Bangalore, the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir temple building is currently under construction.

Radha Parthasarathi Mandir, New Delhi

The Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir temple complex houses the Glory of India Vedic Cultural center, which is a set of interactive educational exhibits, as well as the world's largest printed religious book, known as the "Astounding Bhagavad Gita". It is located in East of Kailash in South Delhi.

Radha Krishna Mandir, Chennai

The Chennai temple is located on the East Coast Road in southern part of the city. Built on 1.5 acre of land and consecrated in 2012, the temple is the largest Radha Krishna temple in Tamil Nadu.

Sri Gaura Radha Gukulananda Temple, Salem
The ISKCON Salem temple, also known as the Sri Gaura Radha Gukulananda Temple of Vedic Knowledge and Culture, is located on Hare Krishna Land, Karuppur, Salem. Built on 4.5 acre of land, the temple is one of the Radha Krishna temple in Tamil Nadu. It was formally inaugurated in October 2019.

Radha Madhav Sundar Mandir, Siliguri

Sri Sri Radha Madhav Sundar Mandir is located at Siliguri, West Bengal and known as Gupta Nabadweep Dham.

Nepal
ISKCON Temple Nepal or ISKCON Nepal is located in Kathmandu. The geographic coordinates of ISKCON Nepal are 27.784062° or (27°47'2.62") of North and 85.356938° or (85°21'24.98") of East. It is on the lap of Shivapuri Mountain where the Holy Bishnumati River flows.

In this temple, the Deities of Sri Sri Radha Govinda Hari (Radha and Krishna), Jagannath, Baladeva, Subhadra, Gaur Nitai, Narasimha are worshiped. ISKCON Nepal celebrates Jagannath Rath Yatra every year. As per a 2018 estimate, over 5000 devotees participate in the ratha yatra from across the globe.

Europe
There are over 135 ISKCON-affiliated temples and cultural centers in Europe. The ISKCON movement in Europe is home to a number of rural and farming communities, including Nueva Vrajamandala in Spain, La Nouvelle Mayapura in France, and Villa Vrindavan in Italy.

There are also 31 additional centers in Russia, as Vaishnava Hinduism represents one of the largest denominations of faith in the country.

Radhadesh, Belgium
The Radhadesh temple in Durbuy, Belgium, is home to Bhaktivedanta College, which opened in 2002 to provide ministerial and spiritual education for students, offering degrees and certificates online and on-campus in Vaishnava theology externally validated by the University of Chester. The Radhadesh temple is also home to Radhadesh Mellows, an annual kirtan retreat.

Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford
A landscaped property featuring gardens, lakes, a school, farm, numerous temple and housing buildings, accommodations, and a bakery. The property for Bhaktivedanta Manor was donated by George Harrison of the Beatles and is on the National Heritage List for England. The houses on the property, including the temple, are built in the mock-Tudor mansion style of the 1800s.

Bhaktivedanta Manor is also home to the London College of Vedic Studies, and is the birthplace of the Avanti Schools Trust, a sponsor of state-funded primary and secondary schools that provides both non-denominational and Hindu-faith education throughout the UK.

Demographically, the majority of devotees in Europe are ethnic Europeans. An exception can be made with the demographics of devotees in the United Kingdom, which caters to the Indian immigrant population, mirroring the demographics of most North American centers.

North and South America

There are 56 formally affiliated ISKCON centers in the United States. Notable centers include Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple (Spanish Fork), Utah, New Raman Reti in Alachua, FL, and The Radha Kalachandji Temple in Dallas, TX. Hare Krishna-affiliated full-time communities include New Vrindaban in West Virginia, and Gita Nagari Eco Farm and Sanctuary in Pennsylvania. There are various other centers in the United States that promote Krishna Conscious culture without being formally affiliated with ISKCON, including The Bhakti Center in New York City. The ISKCON Dallas temple is affiliated with the nearby TKG Academy, which provides private school academic education with additional Vedic-based courses.

There are 12 ISKCON centers in Canada, including the self-sustaining Saranagati Eco Village in BC. There are 5 formally affiliated ISKCON centers in Mexico.

There are 60 affiliated ISKCON temples in South America, with most congregations located in Argentina and Brazil. There are also a number of devotee-run farming communities throughout Latin America. Most notable is the eco-village "Nova Gokula" at Pindamonhangaba in the Brazil state of São Paulo, founded in 1978, with two temples planning as traditional Hindu architecture.

Asia, Africa, and Australasia

Asia is home to over 80 ISKCON affiliated centers, with most being located in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

There are 69 affiliated ISKCON centers in Africa, four of which are rural farming communities and three of which are educational centers. ISKCON Durban hosts the world's largest Ratha Yatra Chariot Festival outside of India.

There are six ISKCON centers, including one farming village in Australia and four temple centers in New Zealand. The Hare Krishna Temple in Christchurch, New Zealand, distributed free meals to mourners and the local Muslim community after a mosque shooting in March 2019.

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) is a nonprofit organization, of ISKCON, and supplies books both to ISKCON and to the book trade in general. BBT is the publisher of books on the Gaudiya Vaishnava. BBT was established in 1972 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta as the publisher for his books and for books by other authors. It also publishes the magazine Back to Godhead in multiple languages. Apart from the BBT's work in publishing, it helps finance the construction and renovation of Krishna temples in the Gaudiya Vaishnava holy places like Vrindavan and Mayapur.

Cow protection and ISCOWP
ISCOWP (International Society for Cow Protection) claims to "present alternatives to agricultural and dietary practices that support and depend upon the meat and dairy industries' slaughter of the cow".

ISKCON Tribal Care Trust
ISKCON Tribal Care Trust (ITCT) is an affiliate targeting the tribal people. The trust has set up schools and potable water sources for the tribal people.

Pandava Sena
Based out of Bhaktivedanta Manor of Watford UK, Pandava Sena is a youth organization started in 1994. It is composed of professionals and university students that host annual international mentorship and reunion retreats and weekly social gatherings.

Pandava Sena has also established "KCSocs" or "Krishna Conscious Societies" across 30 universities in the UK. Many universities have similar student groups featuring youth from local ISKCON temples.

Notable people

 * Alfred Ford
 * George Harrison
 * Poly Styrene
 * Russell Brand


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Epsom

Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about 13.5 mi south of central London. The town is first recorded as Ebesham in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The earliest evidence of human activity is from the mid-Bronze Age, but the modern settlement probably grew up in the area surrounding St Martin's Church in the 6th or 7th centuries and the street pattern is thought to have become established in the Middle Ages. Today the High Street is dominated by the clock tower, which was erected in 1847–8.

Like other nearby settlements, Epsom is located on the spring line where the permeable chalk of the North Downs meets the impermeable London Clay. Several tributaries of the Hogsmill River rise in the town and in the 17th and early 18th centuries, the spring on Epsom Common was believed to have healing qualities. The mineral waters were found to be rich in Epsom salts, which were later identified as magnesium sulphate. Charles II was among those who regularly took the waters and several prominent writers, including John Aubrey, Samuel Pepys and Celia Fiennes recorded their visits. The popularity of the spa declined rapidly in the 1720s as a result of competition from other towns, including Bath and Tunbridge Wells.

Organised horse racing on Epsom Downs is believed to have taken place since the early 17th century. The popularity of Epsom grew as The Oaks and The Derby were established in 1779 and 1780 respectively. The first grandstand at the racecourse was constructed in 1829 and more than 127,000 people attended Derby Day in 1843. During the 1913 Derby, the suffragette, Emily Davison, sustained fatal injuries after being hit by King George V's horse.

The opening of the first railway station in Epsom in 1847, coupled with the breakup of the Epsom Court estate, stimulated the development of the town. Today Epsom station is an important railway junction, where lines to London Victoria and London Waterloo diverge. Since 1946, the town has been surrounded on three sides by the Metropolitan Green Belt, which severely limits the potential for expansion. Two local nature reserves, Epsom Common and Horton Country Park, are to the west of the centre and Epsom Downs, to the south, is a Site of Nature Conservation Importance.

Toponymy
The first written record of a settlement at Epsom dates from the 10th century, when its name is given as Ebesham. It appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Evesham and in subsequent surviving documents as Ebbesham and Ebesam (12th century), Epsam (15th century), Ebbisham and Epsham (16th century) and Epsome (17th century). The first known use of the modern spelling Epsom is from 1718.

The name "Epsom" is thought to derive from that of a Saxon landowner, either as Ebba's ham or Ebbi's ham (where ham means home or settlement). Alternatively the name may come from ebbe, the Old English word for "flow", which may reference an intermittent stream or spring in the area.

The first surviving record of land at Horton is from a charter of 1178, in which the modern spelling is used. It is also recorded as Hortune (1263) and Hortone (1325). The name is thought to derive from the Old English words horh and tun and is generally agreed to mean a "muddy farm".

Location and topography
Epsom is a town in north Surrey, approximately 13.5 mi south of central London. It lies on the southern edge of the London Basin and the highest point in the parish at Epsom Downs is 155 m above ordnance datum. The High Street defines the main west–east axis of the town and runs roughly parallel to the Leatherhead-Sutton railway line.

To the west of the town centre are two local nature reserves, Epsom Common and Horton Country Park, both of which are owned and managed by the borough council. Epsom Downs Racecourse is on Epsom Downs, an area of chalk downland to the south of the town.

Within the ancient parish boundaries are two settlements which were once part of Epsom. Horton, to the west of the centre, is the former location of five psychiatric hospitals, which were redeveloped to provide housing in the early 2000s. Langley Vale, a small village to the south of the racecourse, was predominantly developed in the first half of the 20th century.

Geology
Like many of the towns between Croydon and Guildford, Epsom is a strip parish and spring line settlement. The areas to the south and east of the town lie on the chalk of the North Downs and the centre, north and west are on the London Clay. Separating the two, and running in parallel bands along a north–south axis, are narrow outcrops of Thanet Sands and the Lambeth Group. The chalk is a natural aquifer and tributaries of the Hogsmill River rise at several points along the boundary between the permeable and impermeable rock types. During the late 17th and early 18th century, the spring on Epsom Common was thought to have healing properties and the waters were later found to be rich in magnesium sulphate, which became known as "Epsom salts".

Early history
The earliest evidence of human activity in Epsom is from the mid-Bronze Age. Remains of pits, ditches and post holes in Long Grove Road indicate that the area north of the town centre was used for agriculture in prehistoric times, which may suggest the presence of an established settlement nearby. Pottery sherds and worked flints, found on the site of the former Manor Hospital site in Horton, show that human activity continued into the early Iron Age and two staters (coins) from this period have been found in the area.

Although the route of Stane Street, the road between Londinium and Chichester, passes immediately to the east of St Martin's Church, there is not thought to have been a Roman settlement there. Archaeological evidence of Roman activity has been found to the north of the present town centre: A tile kiln, which may have been connected to the 1st- and 2nd-century brickworks on Ashtead Common, was discovered during the construction of the West Park Hospital in the 1920s. There may also have been a villa at Epsom Court.

The Anglo-Saxon settlement at Epsom was most likely established in the late 6th or early 7th century. It would have been administered as part of Copthorne Hundred and was probably located close to the site of the present St Martin's Church, which is built on a knoll of chalk at the base of the North Downs. Saxon burials have been excavated at two sites to the east of the modern town centre, close to the church. A garnet pendant, depicting a bearded male wearing a Phrygian cap, was discovered in the same area in the 1960s. The pendant is thought to have originated from the Mediterranean in the 7th century and its discovery suggests that high-status individuals were living in or travelling though Epsom in the Anglo-Saxon period.

The origins of the modern town centre are obscure, but the principal road pattern may have developed during the Middle Ages. In the 12th century, a nucleated village is thought to have been founded at the west end of the present High Street. The 1840 tithe map shows a series of narrow, regular plots along the north side of the High Street, which would be consistent with a planned, medieval settlement.

Governance
Epsom was held by Chertsey Abbey from Anglo-Saxon times until the first half of the 16th century. The earliest surviving charter confirming the ownership of the town is from 967, during the reign of King Edgar, although the settlement is thought to have been granted to the abbey in 727. In Domesday Book, Epsom appears as Evesham and is listed as including two mills (valued at 10s), two churches, 24 acre of meadow and sufficient woodland for 20 hogs. It rendered £17 per year in 1086. The residents included 34 villagers, 4 smallholders and 6 villeins.

The manor of Horton was also held by Chertsey Abbey during the medieval period. Although there are few surviving early documents relating to the settlement, an early 15th century charter indicates that it included 168 acre of land, of which 60 acre was pasture. The Durdans estate may also have belonged to Horton. There are references in historical documents to a manor of Brettgrave, also held by the abbey, which appears to have been considered part of Horton by the early 16th century.

Following the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII granted Epsom to Nicholas Carew in 1537, but two years later his property was forfeit when he was executed for his alleged involvement in the Exeter Conspiracy. The manor was part of the Honour of Hampton Court from 1597 until 1554, when it was granted to Francis Carew by Mary I. After 1611, Epsom was briefly held by the Darcy family and was then sold to Anne Mynne, the widow of George Mynne, who had bought the manor of Horton. Both manors were inherited by her daughter, Elizabeth, who in 1648 married Richard Evelyn, the brother of the diarist, John Evelyn. Richard Evelyn died in 1670, but Elizabeth ran the estate until her death in 1692, when the land was split up. For much of the 18th century, Epsom was held by the Parkhurst family and thereafter the lordship passed through a succession of owners before it was purchased by the borough council in 1955.

Reforms during the Tudor period reduced the importance of manorial courts and the day-to-day administration of towns became the responsibility of the vestry of the parish church. The Epsom Vestry appears to have operated as a select vestry, to which members of the gentry were appointed or co-opted. There was little change in local government structure over the subsequent three centuries, until the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 transferred responsibility for poor relief to the Poor Law Commission, whose local powers were delegated to the newly formed poor law union in 1836. The Epsom Union was made responsible for workhouses in around a dozen parishes in the area, all of which were consolidated into a workhouse on the Dorking Road, now the site of Epsom Hospital. A Local Board of Health, with responsibility for sanitation, sewerage and drinking water supply, was formed in 1850.

The Local Government Act 1888 transferred many administrative responsibilities to the newly formed Surrey County Council and was followed by an 1894 Act that created the Epsom Urban District Council (UDC). The UDC area was expanded to include Ewell in 1933 and the enlarged authority was awarded borough status in 1937.

In 1951 the civil parish had a population of 30,860. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished.

Epsom spa
By tradition, the discovery of spa water is attributed to Henry Wicker, a farmer who, in 1618, noticed that his cows refused to drink from a slow spring on Epsom Common. However, the distinct chemical properties of the local water had already been recognised in the preceding decades: In 1603, local physicians had noted that the local water contained "bitter purging salt" and, in late-Elizabethan times, it was thought that bathing in a pond to the west of the town centre could cure ulcers and other disorders.

The first facilities for visitors were provided in 1621, when a wall was built around the spring and a shed erected for invalids. The first authentic account of the spa dates from 1629, when Abram Booth, of the Dutch East India Company, visited Epsom and described how "[p]eople coming there took a few glasses of the mentioned water – which has a taste different from ordinary water – after which walking up and down, these had in our opinion very good effect". During the mid-17th century, several prominent individuals travelled to the spring, including John Aubrey, who after his visit in 1654, boiled some of the water and noted that a "flakey" sediment, "the colour of bay-salt", was left behind. Samuel Pepys visited in both 1663 and 1667 and the theologian, John Owen, took the waters in 1668.

Following the Restoration of the monarchy, Charles II was a regular visitor and it was at Epsom that he met the actress, Nell Gwyn, who became his mistress. Other royal patrons included Prince George, the prince consort of Queen Anne.

Despite the popularity of the spring on the Common, several early visitors were critical of their experience at Epsom. The writer, Dorothy Osborne, who visited in 1653, complained that the water had to stand overnight to allow the sediment to settle before drinking. Similarly, Celia Fiennes noted that Epsom was "not a quick spring", that it was often "drank drye" and to make up the deficiency, "the people do often carry water from the Common wells to fill this in a morning; this they have found out in which makes the water weake and of little operation - unless you can have it first from the well before they can have put in any other".

The popularity of Epsom continued to increase in the final decades of the 17th century and a regular coach service from London was established in 1684. In the 1690s, John Parkhurst, Lord of the Manor of Epsom, began to develop the town into a spa resort. The Assembly Rooms in the High Street were constructed in 1692 and a new well was sunk to the west of South Street. By 1707, a local businessman and apothecary, John Livingstone, had opened a bowling green, gaming rooms and a ballroom.

In the mid-1720s, the popularity of Epsom experienced a rapid decline, driven partly by the economic consequences of the bursting of the South Sea Bubble. There was also competition from other spa towns, including Bath and Tunbridge Wells, and, by the 1750s, synthetic Epsom salts were being manufactured commercially. Attempts were made in the 1760s to revive the spa, but these efforts were unsuccessful.

Horse racing

The earliest horse races on Epsom Downs are thought to have been held in the early 17th century, during the reign of James I. By the time of the Civil War, the sport was sufficiently popular and well known that, in May 1648, royalist forces were able to assemble on the Downs under the pretence of organising a race, before marching together to Reigate. Following the Restoration of the monarchy, there was a further increase in the popularity of racing as Epsom became established as a spa town.

The Irish philosopher, John Toland, noted the suitability of the Downs for sport, writing in 1711 that the land was "covered with grass finer than Persian carpets… for sheep-walks, riding, hunting, racing, shooting, with games of most sorts for exercise of the body or recreation of the mind… they are no where else to be paralleled". The earliest formal races were run on an uphill course from Carshalton to Epsom and were primarily a test of stamina rather than speed. By the mid-18th century a 4-mile straight course had been established, starting at Banstead and finishing at the top of the Downs at Epsom. Heats were run in the mornings, before a break for lunch, which was followed by the final run offs in the late afternoon.

The Oaks was established in 1779 and was named after the residence of the 12th Earl of Derby at Banstead. The race, for three-year-old fillies, was shorter than those that had taken place in previous years and was run over a 1+1/2 mi course. The Derby was first run the following year, as a shorter race of 1 mi for three-year-old colts, but was increased to 1+1/2 mi in 1784. As early as 1793, the crowds associated with Derby Day were causing congestion on local roads and, in 1843, more than 127,000 people attended the race. Formal royal patronage began in 1840 with the visit of Queen Victoria and horses owned by her son, Edward VII, won the event in 1896, 1900 and 1909. The world's first live outside broadcast was filmed at the 1931 Derby by the Baird Television Company.

During the 1913 Derby, the suffragette, Emily Davison, sustained fatal injuries after being hit by King George V's horse, Anmer. The incident occurred at Tattenham Corner, the final curve before the finishing straight, after she ducked under the guard rail and ran onto the course. Davison was knocked unconscious and was taken to Epsom Cottage Hospital, where she died four days later on 8 June 1913. The inquest into her death took place at Epsom on 10 June. A road close to Tattenham Corner is named "Emily Davison Drive" in her honour and a statue of the suffragette was installed in Epsom High Street in June 2021.

The first permanent building on Epsom Downs is thought to have been a rubbing house, where horses could be brushed down and washed after racing. Parts of the Rubbing House pub, which now occupies the site, date from 1801. Until the early 19th century, facilities for race attendees were limited to temporary wood and canvas structures and construction of the first grandstand did not begin until 1829. The Queen's Stand, which incorporates a conference centre, was completed in 1992 and the current grandstand was opened in 2009.

Transport and communications
Following the end of Roman rule in Britain, there appears to have been no systematic planning of transport infrastructure in the local area for over a millennium. The section of Stane Street to the west of the modern town centre remained in use through the Anglo-Saxon period and is referred to as the Portway in the reign of Henry VII. The section of the Roman road to the south of Epsom is thought to have been blocked by the enclosure of Woodcote Park in the mid-12th century. Visitors to the spa were able to reach Epsom by carriage during the 17th century, although the turnpikes to London and Horsham were not constructed until 1755.

The first railway line to reach Epsom was the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), which opened a railway station in the Upper High Street in 1847. Services initially ran to Croydon, where there was a junction with the Brighton Main Line. The line between Epsom and Leatherhead was opened by the independent Epsom and Leatherhead Railway Company on 1 February 1859. It was initially constructed as a single-track line and services were run by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). The LSWR's own line via Worcester Park towards Wimbledon was completed two months later, allowing trains from Epsom to reach London Waterloo. The LBSCR extended its line westwards to meet that of the LSWR in August of the same year, allowing it to run services to Leatherhead. Two branch lines serving the race course opened to Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner in 1865 and 1901 respectively.

Although both the LSWR and LBSCR ran services along the line to Leatherhead, the two companies maintained separate stations in Epsom for 70 years. Following the formation of the Southern Railway in 1923, a decision was taken to combine the two on a single site. The LBSCR station was closed in 1929 and the LSWR station was reconstructed to increase the number of platforms to four, so that all trains passing though the town could serve it. The changes coincided with the electrification of the lines to London Waterloo and London Victoria in 1925 and 1929 respectively. These improvements resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of season tickets sold and stimulated the growth of the town from a population of 18,804 in 1921 to 27,089 in 1931.

A regular postal service between Epsom and London was established in 1678. Initially the service ran three times per week, but ran daily from 1683. The current Post Office in the High Street opened in 1897 and a sorting office in East Street opened in 1956. The first automatic telephone exchange in the UK was opened in the town in May 1912, replacing a manual exchange dating from 1905. The system used switching equipment designed by the American inventor, Almon Brown Strowger, and had provision for a maximum of 500 lines.

Residential development
Epsom is unusual among Surrey towns, in that it underwent considerable expansion during the early modern period. As the spa developed in the 1670s, merchants from London started to construct their own mansions on the outskirts of the town. These baroque buildings were generally made from bricks produced at the brickfield on the Common. The demand for labourers brought incomers with new skills, who began to boost the local economy. The construction of a small row of shops at the junction of the High Street and South Street led to the establishment of a market in 1680 and, in 1692, two London goldsmiths developed the site further by building their own houses.

By 1800, Epsom had over 400 houses and this number increased to 600 by the middle of the century. In the 1860s, plans were put forward to improve the drainage on the Common and to build houses on it, but were dropped due to local objections. Following the enclosure of the common fields to the south of the town centre in 1869, housebuilding commenced along Burgh Heath, College and Worple Roads. At around the same time, houses for the working classes were constructed in the area between the two railway lines to Sutton and Wimbledon.

In the final decade of the 19th century, Epsom Court, to the north of the town centre, was divided and sold for development and, over the next twenty years, terraced houses were built on the land. Shops on Waterloo Road and houses in Chase Road were built from 1928 and the Copse Edge Avenue estate was begun in the same year. The award of borough status to the council in 1937, allowed it to take over running of 1500 council houses that had been built between 1920 and 1939.

The 1944 Greater London Plan designated land on three sides of the town centre as part of the protected Metropolitan Green Belt, which severely limited the scope for urban expansion to the east, west and south. Since limited development of Langley Vale and the Epsom Wells estate had taken place in the early 1930s, these areas were not placed into the Green Belt and housebuilding continued into the 1950s. In the early 2000s, the Epsom Cluster of psychiatric hospitals in Horton was redeveloped to provide around 1850 new homes.

Commerce and industry
From much of its early history, Epsom was primarily an agricultural settlement. The two common fields attached to the medieval manor, Woodcote (350 acre) and Smith Hatch (500 acre), were divided into strips, which were assigned to residents of the town. In the 15th century, sheep farming became increasingly important and a wool fair was held in June each year until the 1870s. There was also an annual pleasure fair which took place in July. The right to hold a market at Epsom was granted to Elizabeth Evelyn by Charles II and the charter was renewed by James II in 1685. Enclosure of the common fields was completed in 1869, bringing to an end the open-field system in the town.

Brick and tile manufacturing took place on Epsom Common until the end of the 18th century and between 1830 and 1938 at a site on Kiln Lane. In the 19th century, chalk was quarried and converted to lime at a site in College Road. Mineral water and fruit juices were bottled in the town by the Randalls company from 1884, which traded from premises in South Street until the 1980s. In the 19th century, there were two breweries in Epsom - WG Bradley and Son in South Street and Pagden's in Church Street. Dorling's Printworks was established in the town in the 1820s and for many years printed racecards and brochures for the Derby, before its closure in 1979. Today, one of the largest private employers in the town is the engineering consultancy firm Atkins, which moved to Epsom in 1962.

Epsom in the world wars
In September 1914, Epsom became a garrison town. Two battalions of the university and Public Schools Brigade of the Royal Fusiliers were billeted in the town and underwent training in Rosebery Park and on Epsom Downs. Some of the racecourse buildings were converted to become a war hospital and, in January 1915, 20,000 soldiers were assembled on the Downs for an inspection by Lord Kitchener.

Woodcote Park Camp was built to house the soldiers of the Royal Fusiliers in late 1914 and early 1915. The 350 acre site was considered suitable as it was close to London. The first soldiers took up residence in February 1915, but the camp was vacated by the Brigade when it was dispatched to the Western Front three months later. Between May 1915 and August 1916 the camp became a convalescent hospital for Commonwealth soldiers. It was handed over to Canadian Forces in July 1916 and remained under their control until the end of the war. Following the end of the First World War, the Canadian soldiers were slow to be repatriated. On 17 June 1919, a group of 400 attacked Epsom Police station, injuring Station Sergeant Thomas Green, who died the following day. At a trial in July 1919, five men were found guilty of riotous assembly and were imprisoned until November of the same year.

By the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, public air raid shelters had been constructed at Rosebery Park and Clay Hill Green. Later in the war, large shelters were provided at Ashley Road, to the south of the town centre, and at Epsom Downs. Over the course of the war around 440 high-explosive bombs were dropped on the borough, 33 people were killed and nearly 200 houses were destroyed. Towards the end of the conflict, 30 V-1 flying bombs landed in the area, including one, in July 1944, which destroyed the Ashley Road Police Station.

During the Second World War, the defence of the town was largely in the hands of the 56th Surrey battalion of the Home Guard, who were trained by a company of Welsh Guards at Epsom Racecourse. Throughout the borough there were 55 Air Raid Precautions (ARP) posts, staffed by up to 140 paid air raid wardens and 560 volunteers. In mid-1940, the Outer London Defence Line A was constructed through Epsom, running along Christchurch Road, the High Street and Alexandra Road.

UK parliament
The town is in the parliamentary constituency of Epsom and Ewell and has been represented at Westminster since May 2010 by Conservative Chris Grayling.

County council
Councillors are elected to Surrey County Council every four years. The town is divided between two wards: "Epsom Town & Downs" and "Epsom West".

Borough council
Epsom is divided between five wards, each of which elects three councillors to Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. The five wards are: "Stamford", "Court", "Town", "College" and "Woodcote".

Since 1995, the Borough of Epsom and Ewell has been twinned with Chantilly in northern France.

Demography and housing
In the 2011 Census, the combined population of the college, Court, Stamford, Town and Woodcote wards was 31,489.

Utilities
The public gas supply to Epsom began in 1839, when the Epsom and Ewell Gas Company purchased land on East Street for the town gasworks. Initially coal was transported by road from Battersea, but was delivered by train following the opening of the railway in 1847. Gas-powered street lighting was installed in the town centre by 1840. The Epsom and Ewell Gas Company was amalgamated with the Wandsworth and Putney Gas Light & Coke Company and the Mitcham and Wimbledon District Gas Light Company in 1912.

The Epsom waterworks were established on East Road in 1853. By 1870, there were at least two wells on the site, which supplied water to the town. Until the mid-19th century, sewage was disposed of in cesspits, however the high water table in the town often lead to drinking water becoming contaminated. The pond in the centre of High Street, which had become polluted with waste, was filled in 1854 under the direction of the newly formed local board of health. The first sewerage system was created the same year, which included the construction of a sewage farm on Hook Road (then known as Kingston Lane). A comprehensive drainage plan was produced in 1895, after the formation of Epsom UDC, and arrangements were made to share the Leatherhead sewage outfall. The site of the sewage farm was redeveloped and is now the Longmead Industrial Estate. Under the Water Act 1973, control of the water supply passed to the Thames Valley Water Authority, which was privatised to become Thames Water in 1973.

An electricity generating station was opened in 1902 in Depot Road. Initially it was capable of generating 220 kW of power, but by the time of its closure in 1939, its installed capacity was 2 MW. Under the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926, Epsom was connected to the National Grid, initially to a 33 kV supply ring, which linked the town to Croydon, Leatherhead, Dorking and Reigate. In 1939, the ring was connected to the Wimbledon-Woking main via a 132 kV substation at Leatherhead.

Emergency services and justice
Following the County Courts Act 1848, a courthouse was built in Epsom. The County and Magistrates' Courts closed in 2010. Epsom Police Station was opened in Church Street in July 1963. The Epsom force had been part of the Metropolitan Police since 1829, but was transferred to Surrey Police in April 2000.

Epsom is thought to have acquired a "manual" fire engine in around the 1760s. It was operated by volunteers and was kept at the clock tower in the High Street. The first full-time brigade was established in 1870 and, by the end of the century, was based on Waterloo Road. The current fire station in Church Street was opened in 1937. In 2021, the fire authority for Epsom is Surrey County Council and the statutory fire service is Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. Epsom Ambulance Station is run by the South East Coast Ambulance Service.

Healthcare
Epsom Cottage Hospital, the first hospital in Epsom, was opened in Pikes Hill in 1873. It moved to Hawthorne Place in 1877 and, in 1889, a new building was constructed in Alexandra Road to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The suffragette, Emily Davison, died at the hospital after being hit by King George V's horse at the 1913 Derby. Epsom Cottage Hospital officially closed in 1988, however the premises are used today as a community hospital offering physiotherapy and rehabilitation services.

Epsom Hospital was built by the Poor Law Guardians adjacent to the workhouse on Dorking Road in 1890. It was made the responsibility of Surrey County Council in 1930 and became part of the NHS in 1948. Since April 1999, it has been run by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, following a merger between the Epsom Health Care and St Helier NHS Trusts. Epsom Hospital has an A&E department.

The Epsom Cluster was a group of five psychiatric hospitals, built to the west of Epsom on land purchased by London County Council in 1896. The Manor Asylum was the first to be opened in 1899 and the fifth, West Park Asylum, was fully completed in June 1924, having been used by the Canadian Military during WWI. A light railway was constructed to deliver building materials and coal to the construction sites. Clean water was supplied from a borehole and a power station was constructed to provide electricity to the five institutions. All of the hospitals closed during the 1990s and 2000s and their sites have since been redeveloped for housing.

As of 2021, the town has three GP practices.

Bus
Epsom is linked by a number of bus routes to surrounding towns and villages in north Surrey and south London. Operators serving the town include Falcon Buses, London United and Metrobus.

Train
Epsom railway station is a short distance to the north of the town centre and is managed by Southern. The current station building was opened in 2013, following a three-year, £20M redevelopment. It is served by trains to London Victoria and London Bridge via Sutton, to London Waterloo via Wimbledon, to Horsham via Dorking and to Guildford via Bookham.

Long-distance footpath
The Thames Down Link long-distance footpath between Kingston upon Thames and Box Hill runs through Horton Country Park and across Epsom Common.

Further and Higher Education
The Epsom campus of the University for the Creative Arts was founded as the Epsom Technical Institute & School of Art in 1896. The original building in Church Street was designed by John Hatchard-Smith in the English Renaissance style and was financed by public subscription. It moved to new premises in Ashley Road in 1973 and merged with the West Surrey College of Art and Design to form the Surrey Institute of Art and Design in 1994. The combined institution was granted university college status in 1999. In 2005, it merged with the Kent Institute of Art and Design to become the University for the Creative Arts.

Laine Theatre Arts is an independent performing arts college, founded by Betty Laine in 1974. It prepares students for careers in professional musical theatre and teaches the core skills of dance, singing and acting. Alumni include Victoria Beckham, Kerry Ellis, Ben Richards and Sarah Hadland.

Maintained schools
Blenheim High School opened in 1997 and it became an academy in 2012.

Glyn School was founded as the Epsom County School in 1927 and became a grammar school in 1944. It was renamed Glyn Grammar School in 1954, after Sir Arthur Glyn, the first chairman of the school Governing Body. It became a comprehensive school in 1976 and its name changed again to Glyn/ADT School of Technology in 1994. The school gained academy status in 2011.

Rosebery School was opened in 1921 as the Epsom County Secondary School for Girls. In 1927, it moved to its current site on land donated by Lord Rosebery, acquiring its present name at the same time. It became an academy in 2011.

Both Glyn School and Rosberry School are part of the multi-academy trust GLF Schools

Independent schools
Epsom College was founded in 1851 as the Medical Benevolent College by the physician, John Propert. The school buildings were opened in 1855 by Prince Albert and the first cohort of 100 pupils were all sons of medics. By 1865, the school roll had grown to 300 and had been opened to those able to pay fees. The Grade II-listed chapel, dedicated to St Luke, was built in 1857 and was enlarged by Arthur Blomfield in 1895. Girls were first admitted to the school in 1976 and Epsom College became fully coeducational in 1996.

Kingswood House School is a preparatory school to the west of the town centre. It was founded in 1899 and moved to its present site on West Hill in 1920. Since the 1960s it has operated exclusively as a day school. Girls were admitted for the first time in September 2021.

St Martin's Church
The Domesday Book entry for Epsom includes two churches, one of which is thought to have been on the site of the present St Martin's Church. The oldest part of the current building is the flint tower, which dates from around 1450. Much of the remainder of the church dates from a rebuilding in 1824, with the exception of the choir, chancel and transepts, which were added by Sir Charles Nicholson in 1908. The 15th century spire was damaged in a storm in 1947 and was subsequently demolished.

Following the 1824 rebuilding, many of the memorials from the medieval church were reinstalled in the new church, including several by the sculptor John Flaxman. The parish chest, made from carved Spanish mahogany, is reputed to contain wood recovered from ships of the Spanish Armada. The church also holds a copy of the so-called vinegar bible of 1717. The east window, by the local designer F.A. Oldaker, shows Christ the Light of the World, in the style of the painting by William Holman Hunt.

Christ Church
Christ Church was founded as a chapel of ease to St Martin's in 1843. Initially a temporary structure was provided until the first permanent building was opened in 1845. In July 1874, Epsom parish was divided into two, with the western half becoming the new parish of Epsom Common. The chapel of ease became the parish church, but was considered too small for the congregation. Its replacement, the present church, was designed in the Gothic revival style by Arthur Blomfield and opened in 1876. It is constructed from flint with stone dressings and there is a clerestory above the nave. The tower and south aisle were added in 1879 and 1887 respectively.

The chancel arch is decorated with a mural of Christ flanked by angels, beneath which is the rood screen, made of wrought iron and bronze, which was erected 1909. The alabaster reredos, behind the altar, contains figurative scenes in mosaic and the east wall is decorated with panels depicting the four Evangelists. The pulpit dates from 1880 and was originally in St Andrew's Church, Surbiton. The interior of the church was reordered between 1987 and 1995 to increase the versatility of the nave.

United Reformed Church
Following the Act of Uniformity 1662, local nonconformists began meeting in small groups at Ewell, before establishing themselves at Epsom in around 1688. The Dissenting community flourished in the town in the late 17th and early 18th centuries and, in 1720, the first purpose-built meeting house was constructed on Church Street. As the population of the town decreased in the later 18th century, the congregation declined and the meeting house appears to have been sold by 1803, but remained in use for worship. A new, Gothic revival congregational church was opened in 1905 on the same site. Much of the church, including the roof and organ, was destroyed in fire in 1961, but the building was rebuilt two years later. It was renamed Epsom United Reformed Church in 1972.

St Joseph's Catholic Church
The Catholic parish of St Joseph, traces its origins to 1859, when the congregation began to meet regularly for mass in the parlour of a house in Stanley Villas. The first permanent church, in Heathcote Road, was completed in 1866 and was constructed of local red brick with Bath stone dressings. It was extended in 1930 and the west end was rebuilt between 1959 and 1961, but by 1996 it had become clear that it was inadequate for the size of the congregation. Land in St Margaret's Drive was purchased from the county council and construction of a new church began in 1999. The old church was demolished in 2000 and its replacement opened in April 2001. The new church was dedicated by Cormac Murphy-O'Connor in May 2001.

Literature
Epsom Wells, a restoration comedy written by Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642 – 1692), is one of a series of plays set in English spa towns. It received its first performance in 1673 at the Duke's Theatre in London. A revival of the play in the 1690s included new incidental music by the composer, Henry Purcell.

Epsom Downs, a comic play written by Howard Brenton (born 1942), is set at the 1977 Epsom Derby. It received its first performance in 1977 at The Roundhouse in London.

Music
Epsom Choral Society was founded in 1922 by the publisher, Humphrey Milford. His son, the composer Robin Milford was the first conductor. The choir has commissioned works from the British composers Cecilia McDowall and Jonathan Willcocks. Epsom Symphony Orchestra for amateur musicians was founded in 1951 and gives four concerts each year at the Epsom Playhouse. The Epsom & Ewell Silver Band is based in Epsom. It is a traditional British brass band and was founded in 1910 as the Banstead Silver Band.

Paintings
The landscape painter, John Constable (1776–1837), visited Epsom regularly between 1806 and 1812. His works include several depictions of the town, including View at Epsom (1809), held by The Tate. The gallery also owns paintings of horse racing taking place on the Downs, including works by Alfred Munnings (1878–1959) and William Powell Frith (1819–1909). The 1821 Derby at Epsom (1821) by Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) is held by The Louvre. Paintings of Nonsuch Palace, attributed to Hendrick Danckerts (c. 1625–1680), and of the view from Epsom Downs, by William Henry David Birch (1895–1968), are held by Epsom Town Hall.

Public art
A statuette by the Australian sculptor Tom Merrifield was erected outside the Playhouse in 1999. It depicts the dancer, John Gilpin, performing the title role of Le Spectre de la rose from the ballet by Jean-Louis Vaudoyer.

Evocation of Speed, a bronze sculpture by Judy Boyt, was installed at Epsom Square in 2002. It depicts two horses - Diomed, the winner of the first Derby in 1780 and Galileo, the winner of the 2001 race. The depictions of the two riders show how the clothing worn by jockeys has changed over time.

A statue of Emily Davison by the artist Christine Charlesworth, was installed in the marketplace in 2021, following a campaign by volunteers from the Emily Davison Memorial Project.

Theatre
Epsom Playhouse opened in 1984 as part of The Ashley Centre development. It has two performance spaces: The main auditorium seats a maximum of 450. The Myers Studio, which has an octagonal floor plan, seats 80 and is suited to smaller-scale drama, comedy and jazz performances.

Podcasts
British comedy podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno sets the second episode of its third season, Epsom Hall, in the eponymous building.

Rainbow Leisure Centre
The current Rainbow Leisure Centre opened in 2003, replacing the original facility which dated from the 1930s. The centre includes swimming pools, two dance studios and a sports hall with four badminton courts. In 2011, a spa facility was added as part of an extensive refurbishment, during which the gym equipment was also upgraded. The centre is managed by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) under their "Better" brand.

Association Football
Epsom & Ewell F.C. traces its origins to the Epsom Juniors Cricket Club, founded in March 1918. A year later the team began to play football and was a founder member of the Sutton & District League in 1920. The team changed its name to Epsom Town F.C. in 1922 and played its home games at the Horton Hospital Sports Ground. The club became Epsom F.C. in 1934 and adopted its current name in 1960. Since the start of the 2020/21 season, the club has been based at Fetcham Grove, the Leatherhead F.C. stadium.

Cricket
The earliest reference to cricket being played in the town is from 1711 and Epsom Cricket Club is thought to have been founded in around 1800. During the early 19th century, matches appear to have taken place on the Downs and also at Stamford Green on Epsom Common. By 1860, the club had established a new ground on Woodcote Road, on land belonging to Edward Richard Northey, and plays its home games there today.

Hockey
Epsom Hockey Club is thought to have been founded in around 1900 and was well established by the 1909/10 season. Initially, home games were played at the Court Recreation Ground, but the club established a permanent base in Woodcote Road after the Second World War.

Tennis
Epsom Lawn Tennis Club was founded as a croquet club in the 1850s, based at Woodcote House. By the 1870s, tennis became the more important sport and in 1913 the club had five tennis courts and three croquet courts. The last remaining croquet court was converted to a grass tennis court in 1923.

Other sports
Epsom and Ewell Harriers is a club for track and field athletes, based at the Poole Road Track in Ewell. Epsom Cycling Club was founded in 1891 and is one of the oldest in the country. The club arranges organised rides and regular time trials in the local area. Sutton and Epsom Rugby Football Club was founded in 1881 and their main ground is at Rugby Lane, Cheam.

The Ashley Centre
Construction of The Ashley Centre was proposed in the late 1970s, following concerns that retail sector of the local economy was in decline. The shopping centre was designed by Humphrey Wood and the building makes extensive use of steel, glass and marble. A multistorey car park and an office block were included in the scheme, in addition to 23000 m2 of retail space. The centre was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 October 1984 and is named after the adjacent Ashley Road.

Ashley House
Ashley House is named after Mary Ashley, a former resident who lived at the property until 1849. The three-storey, brick townhouse was constructed in the late 1760s and is protected by a Grade II* listing. It features an Adam-style central doorcase with a composite Tower of the Winds and Ionic columns.

Assembly Rooms
The Assembly Rooms building was constructed in around 1692, when the spa was at the height of it popularity. It functioned as a meeting place and included a tavern, coffee house and billiard room. A bowling green and a cockpit, in which fighting cocks were set against each other for sport, were also part of the same complex. Following the decline of the spa in the first half of the 18th century, much of the building was converted to shops and to housing for private families. Since April 2002, the Assembly Rooms has operated as a public house, owned by Wetherspoons.

Clock Tower
The foundation stone for the Clock Tower was laid in November 1847, following the demolition of the watch house which had stood on the site since the 17th century. The 70 ft tower, designed by James Butler and Henry Hodge, is constructed from red and grey brick with ashlar dressings. Initially four lion sculptures made of Caen stone were positioned at each corner of the base, however by 1902 they had been replaced by electric lanterns, which were replaced, in 1920, by the current globe lights. In the same year, the base of the tower was extended to the east and west to provide toilet facilities. Several public events and civic ceremonies have taken place in the area at the base of the tower, including the official granting of the foundation charter of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in September 1937. In March 2023, following many discussions, the clock tower received a full LED lighting upgrade allowing the tower to change colour.

Spread Eagle Walk
The Spread Eagle Walk shopping centre was constructed as a coaching inn in the late 17th century. The main hotel building has two storeys with an attic and basement. The external stucco finish and sash windows are later additions. The distinctive black eagle sculptures above the two porticos are thought to date from the mid-late 19th century. The inn traded as a public house until around 1990, when it closed for renovation. The driveway into the former stables was converted into the main entrance to the shopping centre and in 1994 the main building was occupied by Lester Bowden outfitters, which had been founded by Arthur Bowden at start of the 20th century.

Town Hall
The neo-Georgian Epsom Town Hall, designed by Hubert Moore Fairweather and William Alfred Pite, was opened in March 1934. The building has served as the headquarters of Epsom UDC, Epsom Borough Council and, since 1974, Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. The New Town Hall was opened in 1992 and is connected to the older building by covered walkways.

War memorials
Epsom War Memorial at Epsom Cemetery was erected in 1921 to commemorate the 256 residents of Epsom and Ewell who had died in the First World War. The memorial consists of a Celtic cross in granite and the gates are dedicated to the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, who were billeted in Epsom before the opening of the Woodcote Park camp. Following the end of the Second World War, an additional inscription was added to commemorate those who had died between 1939 and 1945.

The Commonwealth War Graves Memorial was erected in Epsom Cemetery in 1925. It consists of a cross, behind which is a screen wall on which names of 148 Commonwealth soldiers are inscribed. The majority of those commemorated died in the hospitals of the Epsom Cluster.

Woodcote Park
Woodcote Park was created as a hunting park in the mid-12th century by the abbot of Chertsey Abbey. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-16th century, the park was briefly held by Sir Nicholas Carew, before being annexed to the Honour of Hampton Court. In the mid-17th century, the land was inherited by Elizabeth Mynne, wife of Richard Evelyn, for whom the first mansion house was constructed. The building included decorative features by the sculptor, Grinling Gibbons, and a ceiling by the painter, Antonio Verrio. In 1715, the estate was inherited by Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, who commissioned Isaac Ware to rebuild the mansion in the French Rococo Revival style. Some of the features of the original house were reused, including the Verrio ceiling. Shortly before his death, Calvert engaged John Vardy to design a Palladian stone frontage.

Following long periods of ownership by the Tessier and Brooks families during the 19th century, the Royal Automobile Club (R.A.C.) purchased Woodcote Park in 1913. Many of the historic interiors were not required by the R.A.C. and were removed and sold at auction. In 1927, wood panelling and other decorations in the style of Thomas Chippendale, from one of the drawing rooms, were installed in the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston, Massachusetts. The mansion was destroyed by fire in August 1934, but within two years had been rebuilt with an identical exterior appearance. Today the 350 acre site features two 18-hole golf courses, sports and spa facilities, as well as restaurants and guest accommodation. The club also houses a fleet of heritage motor vehicles, owned by the R.A.C.

Epsom Common
During the medieval period, Epsom Common was the manorial waste land and, in the 12th century, the monks of Chertsey Abbey built the Great Pond to rear fish. The first cottages had been built around the edges of the common by 1679 and by the mid-18th century there were over 30, mostly on the land around Stamford Green. The Common was purchased by Epsom Urban District Council (UDC) in 1935 and its successor body, the Borough Council, continues to own and manage it today. Together with the adjacent Ashtead Common, Epsom Common comprises a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is a Local Nature Reserve. The 176 hectare site has a range of distinctive habitats and is a breeding ground for 59 bird species.

Epsom Downs
Epsom Downs and the neighbouring Walton Downs are to the south east of the town and together comprise 240 ha of chalk downland. The Downs are owned by Epsom Racecourse and are managed by a board of Conservators under the framework of the Epsom and Walton Downs Regulation Act 1984. A number of rare plants are present, including round-headed rampion, bastard-toadflax and chalk hill eyebright. The area provides a habitat for bird species including the Eurasian skylark. Since 2013, Epsom Downs has been a Site of Nature Conservation Importance.

Horton Country Park
Horton Country Park was created in 1973 from two farms belonging to the Epsom Cluster of psychiatric hospitals and is owned and managed by the Borough Council. Around 152 ha have been designated a Local Nature Reserve in 2004. The country park includes areas of ancient woodland and provides a habitat for a wide range of mammal, bird and insect species including the green woodpecker and roe deer. It also contains a golf course, equestrian centre and a children's farm.

Mounthill Gardens and Rosebery Park
Mounthill Gardens, south west of the town centre, was formed from the grounds of two adjacent houses, both purchased by Epsom UDC in 1950. The smaller house, Rosebank, had been bombed during the Second World War and was subsequently demolished by the council. The larger house, Mounthill, was used as offices for a time, before it too was demolished. The 2 ha of steeply sloping land surrounding the two buildings was converted into a public park that opened in 1965.

Rosebery Park, to the south of the town centre, was presented to Epsom UDC in 1913 by Lord Rosebery as "proof of [his] deep and abiding affection" for the town. Rosebery's wish was for the creation of "a public pleasure ground for the resort and recreation of the inhabitants of Epsom." Work to create the formal areas of the park had begun by the outbreak of the First World War, including the enlargement of an existing pond to create the lake. Non-landscaped areas were converted into allotments during the two world wars. Today the 4.5 ha park is owned and managed by the Borough Council.

Recreation grounds
Alexandra Recreation Ground was opened in 1901 on land previously owned by Chertsey Abbey. The land was purchased by Epsom UDC in response to a public petition and was intended for local residents to use for sporting activities. During WWI, the football pitches were ploughed and the land was used to grow potatoes. An adjacent chalk pit was filled in 1933 and is now the site of the children's playground.

The Court Recreation Ground, to the north of the town centre, is the largest recreation ground in the borough. The land was acquired between 1924 and 1926 and a bowling green was created in 1934. The ground has an artificial turf sports pitch, five football pitches and three tennis courts.

Notable residents

 * Sally Mapp (c. 1706–1737) bonesetter
 * John Parkhurst (1728–1797) academic, clergyman and lexicographer – lived in Epsom and is commemorated in a memorial by John Flaxman in St Martin's Church.
 * Jonathan Boucher (1738–1804) clergyman, teacher, philologist – was vicar of Epsom from 1784 until his death.
 * Isabella Beeton (1836–1865) (Mrs Beeton) journalist, editor, writer - lived in Epsom for much of her childhood.
 * Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847–1929) Prime Minister and Liberal Party MP – lived at The Durdans to the south of the town.
 * General Sir Charles Grant (1877–1950), senior military officer, son-in-law of Lord Rosebery – died at The Durdans.
 * James Chuter Ede (1882–1965) Home Secretary and Labour Party MP – was the first mayor of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell.
 * Norman Wisdom (1915–2010) actor, comedian, singer-songwriter
 * Frank Hampson (1918–1985) cartoonist and illustrator – worked at studios in College Road.
 * John Challis (1942–2021) actor, most famous for portraying Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom Only Fools and Horses, was raised in Epsom.
 * Jimmy Page (b. 1944) musician and record producer – spent his formative years at Epsom, where he learned to play the guitar.
 * Dame Cheryl Gillan (1952-2021), Conservative politician, Secretary of State for Wales 2010-2012, lived in Epsom shortly before her death.
 * Jimmy White (b. 1962) snooker player
 * Warwick Davis (b. 1970) actor, comedian – born in Epsom and attended Laine Theatre Arts
 * Andrew Garfield (b. 1983) actor
 * Joe Wicks (b. 1985) fitness coach, TV presenter, social media personality and author – born and educated in Epsom.

title: Epsom