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Upper High Street, EPSOM, KT17 4TA

Upper High Street from the junction with Church Street. Formerly known as Station Road, because the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway built a line to Epsom in 1847 which terminated at Epsom Town station, about half way up Station Road. The buildings are recognisable from this Francis Frith photo taken in 1902: http://www.francisfrith.com/epsom/photos/station-road-1902_48086/ and http://www.geograph.org.uk/stuff/frith.php?id=2361693 , although the closure of the station in 1929 has meant that, over the years, the focal point of the town has shifted west towards Epsom station and the Ashley Shopping Centre.

No. 1 Church Street, Epsom - built for the Epsom and Ewell Technical Institute to the designs of architect John Hatchard-Smith (1853-1926). "Building started on the Technical Institute in Church Street, Epsom in September 1893 on land given by Mr Basil Braithwaite of Hookfield. The architect was Mr John Hatchard-Smith and the builder and contractor was Mr J.B. Potter. The building was built in the English renaissance style and was completed in May 1896. The site was occupied until 1980 when it became inadequate for its purpose." - quoted from this http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/TechnicalInstitute.html

Opened as "Epsom" in 1847 by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway on what is today the line from Croydon to Leatherhead, this station closed in 1929 when the current Epsom railway station was rebuilt to take the extra traffic. The 1847 station became "Epsom Town" from 1870 to c.1900, and again from 1923 until closure. View north at the former forecourt. The building is still there, behind the modern shop frontages. And behind the building, the railway line still runs.

View westward from behind Upper High Street, toward the present (ex-LSWR) station: ex-LB&SCR lines from Victoria and London Bridge via West Croydon and Sutton, which round the bend joined the ex-LSWR line from Waterloo, running then as a Joint line to Leatherhead etc. (See Image]).

The bridge carries the line from Sutton over the A24.

Upper High Street looking downhill to the Quadrant. On the left is the Odeon cinema, which was built on the site of the Lecture Hall: the hall burnt down in 1990, by which time it was already hidden behind the facade of a row of shops. The buildings beyond the cinema on the left, and those on the right, are unchanged from this Francis Frith view in 1902: http://www.francisfrith.com/epsom/photos/station-road-1902_48085/ and http://www.geograph.org.uk/stuff/frith.php?id=2361796 .

Looking west along the High Street from The Quadrant: the junction between High Street, East Street, Upper High Street and Church Street. To the right is East Street railway bridge (which was closed during the Easter holidays for replacement). The High Street was widened in the 1930s, and all of the buildings seen in this Francis Frith photo dating from 1907 have been demolished: http://www.francisfrith.com/epsom/photos/high-street-1907_58596/ and http://www.geograph.org.uk/stuff/frith.php?id=2361584 .