The neighbouring districts are Reigate and Banstead, Mole Valley, Kingston upon Thames and Sutton, the latter two being London boroughs.

In Roman times the road now known as Stane Street, from London to Chichester, passed through Epsom and Ewell.

In medieval times the area was covered by three manors: Cuddington, which was owned by the Codington family; Epsom, which belonged to Chertsey Abbey; and Ewell, associated with Merton Priory.

In 1538 the village of Cuddington was destroyed to make way for Henry VIII's Nonsuch Palace and its parks.

Its popularity with London society brought visits from Samuel Pepys and Nell Gwynne, the development of shops and inns and the oldest spa assembly rooms in England.

Horse racing on Epsom Downs began during the spa period, but it was not until the Oaks was run in 1789 and the Derby the following year that it took on its present form.

The Pre-Raphaelite painters, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, had connections with both Ewell and Cuddington and used local scenes as backgrounds for a number of paintings, notably 'Ophelia' by Millais and 'The Light of the World' by Hunt.

It is: Per chevron vert and argent, in chief two horses heads erased or and in base as many bars wavy azure.

[8] The district was redesignated as a non-metropolitan district in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, but kept the same boundaries and its borough status, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Epsom and Ewell's series of mayors dating back to 1937.

[16] Epsom and Ewell is one of the few councils dominated by a group not linked to a national political party.

Party affiliations were not recorded on ballot papers prior to 1970, but the Residents Association has certainly held a majority of the seats on the council since the reforms of 1974:[17][18] The role of mayor is largely ceremonial at Epsom and Ewell Borough Council.

[31] Epsom and Ewell Parliamentary Constituency is one of the most Conservative seats and contains the entirety of the borough.

Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner stations sit on the borough borders.

All stations in the Borough have accepted the Oyster card as payment and all except Epsom are in either fare zone 5 or 6.