Editing Epsom (section)

===Transport and communications===
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| caption = Extract from ''Mogg's Twenty Four Miles Round London, 1820'' showing the turnpike road through Epsom
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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 of England|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.<ref name=Nail_1965/> Visitors to the spa were able to reach Epsom by carriage during the 17th century, although the [[turnpike trust|turnpikes]] to London and [[Horsham]] were not constructed until 1755.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bogart |first1=Dan |date=October 2005 |title=Turnpike trusts and the transportation revolution in 18th century England |journal=Explorations in Economic History |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=479–508 |doi=10.1016/j.eeh.2005.02.001}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/the-turnpike-road/ |title=The Turnpike Road |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=4 June 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=17 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101951/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/the-turnpike-road/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Epsom Town station (postcard).jpg|thumb|right|{{rws|Epsom Town}} station building (LBSCR), photographed {{circa|1900}}]]
The first railway line to reach Epsom was the [[London, Brighton and South Coast Railway]] (LBSCR), which opened [[Epsom Town railway station|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]].<ref name="Abdy_2001_pp29-31">{{harvnb|Abdy|2001|pp=29–31}}</ref> The line between {{rws|Epsom}} and {{rws|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 {{rws|Worcester Park}} towards {{rws|Wimbledon}} was completed two months later, allowing trains from Epsom to reach {{rws|London Waterloo}}.<ref name=Vardey_1988_pp168-169>{{harvnb|Vardey|1988|pp=168–169}}</ref><ref name=Stuttard_1995_pp85-90>{{harvnb|Stuttard|1995|pp=85–90}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Cockman_Marshall_1988_p128>{{harvnb|Cockman|Marshall|1988|p=128}}</ref> Two branch lines serving the race course opened to {{rws|Epsom Downs}} and {{rws|Tattenham Corner}} in 1865 and 1901 respectively.<ref name="Abdy_2001_pp29-31"/>

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 (UK)|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.<ref name=Cockman_Marshall_1988_p128/>{{refn|A similar process occurred at Leatherhead, where, in 1927, the LSWR station closed and the track layout was altered so that all trains could use the LSBCR-built station.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=H.J. |year=1993 |title=The Epsom and Leatherhead Railway 1856-59 |url=https://leatherheadhistoryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/VOL_5_NO_6_1993.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the Leatherhead& District Local History Society |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=170–172 |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref><ref name=Knowles_1998>{{cite journal |last1=Knowles |first1=H.G. |year=1998 |title=Leatherhead's railway stations |url=https://leatherheadhistoryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/VOL_6_NO_2_1998.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the Leatherhead& District Local History Society |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=46–52 |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref>|group=note}} The changes coincided with the [[Railway electrification in Great Britain|electrification]] of the lines to London Waterloo and London Victoria in 1925 and 1929 respectively.<ref name=Abdy_2001_p68>{{harvnb|Abdy|2001|p=68}}</ref> These improvements resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of [[season ticket]]s sold and stimulated the growth of the town from a population of 18,804 in 1921 to 27,089 in 1931.<ref name=Cockman_Marshall_1988_p138>{{harvnb|Cockman|Marshall|1988|p=138}}</ref>

A regular postal service between Epsom and London was established in 1678. Initially the service ran three times per week,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=4 April 1678 |title=Postal services |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/1292/page/2 |work=London Gazette |issue=1292 |page=2 |access-date=6 July 2021 |archive-date=9 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209071513/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/1292/page/2/ |url-status=live}}</ref> but ran daily from 1683.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=25 June 1683 |title=Postal services |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/1837/page/2 |work=London Gazette |issue=1837 |page=2 |access-date=6 July 2021 |archive-date=9 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209062409/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/1837/page/2/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The current Post Office in the High Street opened in 1897 and a sorting office in East Street opened in 1956.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eehe.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PostalHistory-4.pdf |title=The Postal History of Epsom: Buildings (Part 4) |last=Bond |first=Les |year=1994 |publisher=Epsom & Ewell History Explorer |access-date=6 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184546/https://eehe.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PostalHistory-4.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> 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 [[Strowger switch|switching equipment]] designed by the American inventor, [[Almon Brown Strowger]], and had provision for a maximum of 500 [[telephone line|lines]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Harper |first=Paul |date=18 May 2016 |title=104 years ago Epsom became first UK place to use automatic telephone exchange |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/104-years-ago-epsom-became-11350020 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=6 July 2021 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126152401/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/104-years-ago-epsom-became-11350020 |url-status=live}}</ref>