The Bourne Hall Museum

Bourne Hall, Spring Street, Ewell, KT17 1UF 020 8394 1734

If you visit Ewell village, you will soon find Bourne Hall. Overshadowed by the trees of a Victorian park, it is not an old mansion, as the name might suggest, but a low-lying, circular modern building. For the 1960s, when it was built, this was a revolutionary design.

Entering Bourne Hall, you look up to the mezzanine floor to see a museum. The galleries, which are open plan, lie underneath the transparent dome which crowns the building. Displays draw on a collection of over five thousand items acquired over the years through the generosity of local people. The museum is run by the Borough of Epsom and Ewell, and was set up to promote the understanding of history in the area - a history which has many links with the wider world. Henry VIII had a palace at Nonsuch, the well on Epsom Common was the site of the first English Spa, and Epsom Downs have seen two hundred years of the Derby, the most famous horse race in the world. The museum has a hansom cab used by a Prime Minister, and a primitive fire engine worked by teams of sweating volunteers. Collections of toys, cameras, old costume and medical items will be of interest to anyone looking back on the old days.

After your visit, you can enjoy lunch or a coffee in the newly refurbished restaurant next to the museum. You may want to buy a souvenir in the museum shop, on the ground floor of Bourne Hall. Local history books are available here, as well as background material for school projects. You can make your way to the library, one of the largest in Surrey. There is always an art exhibition on display at Bourne Hall, and many other services. You can work out in the gym, or hire rooms for a function. The park around Bourne Hall is an oasis of tranquillity in a busy world. Stay for a while to watch the swans glide on the lake, while children play on the grass and under the branches of the old cedar tree.

Opening hours

Entrance to the museum is free. It's open every weekday from nine in the morning till late at night, all day Saturdays as well, and on Sunday mornings. Displays are continually changing, and there are temporary exhibitions on themes of local interest. If you can come between 10.00 and 2.00 on a weekday, knock on the office door in the middle of the main gallery and staff will be there to help you with local history enquiries. (Of course if you phoned us up before - on 0181.394.1734 - and told us about your interests, we could be ready to help you when you came. And it's best to make an appointment if you want someone to be there after 2.00).

There are special services for schools, or for anyone else interested in education. Just contact us for free membership of the Schools Partnership Scheme, which qualifies you for loans of old objects, slides and teaching notes, guided walks, and visits from museum staff. We can put you in touch with historical re-enactors and other resources.