Editing Epsom (section)

==Toponymy==
The first written record of a settlement at Epsom dates from the 10th century, when its name is given as ''Ebesham''.<ref name=Gover_1934_p74>{{harvnb|Gover|Mawer|Stenton|1969|p=74}}</ref> It appears in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Evesham''<ref name=Surrey_Domesday>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |title=Surrey Domesday Book |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715015325/http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |archive-date=15 July 2007}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Gover_1934_p74/>

The name "Epsom" is thought to derive from that of a [[Saxons|Saxon]] landowner, either as ''Ebba's ham'' or ''Ebbi's ham'' (where ''ham'' means home or settlement).<ref name=Gover_1934_p74/><ref name=EEHE_Brief_History>{{cite web |url=https://eehe.org.uk/?p=29582 |title=A brief history of Epsom and Ewell |last1=Reed |first1=Peter |last2=Bouchard |first2=Brian |year=2009 |publisher=Epsom and Ewell History Explorer |access-date=5 June 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102103653/https://eehe.org.uk/?p=29582 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|Although identity of the landowner is uncertain, it has been suggested that Ebba was a 7th-century [[Kingdom of Sussex|South Saxon]] queen.<ref name=Home_1901_pp26-27>{{harvnb|Home|1901|pp=26–27}}</ref>|group=note}} Alternatively the name may come from ''ebbe'', the [[Old English]] word for "flow", which may reference an [[bourne (stream)|intermittent stream]] or [[spring (hydrology)|spring]] in the area.<ref name=Swete_1860_p8>{{harvnb|Swete|1860|p=8}}</ref>

The first surviving record of land at [[Horton, Surrey|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".<ref name=Gover_1934_p74/>