PHOTO GALLERY OF LANGLEY VALE

Racehorses on their way to the gallops. Such beautiful creatures, yet so highly strung. If you meet them on the road, please be patient and give them plenty of room. Horses have raced here on the Downs since about 1618.

The main road through the village taken in 2005 - before the traffic calming.

The beautiful downland which surrounds the Village. This photo was taken in 2005.

This view of Langley Vale is taken from the Downs

Our local church which was built about 1961.

Resplendant with its new replacement windows.

Looking towards the Downs.

Originally built in 1923 with later editions. This photo was taken in 2005 prior to re-development.

Downs House was formally know as Sherwood's Cottage and also Melisian Lodge. The present house is believed to date from the end of the 18th century with later additions. It was here that the famous Derby winner of 1838 Amato was trained.

Mertyle Cottage in Rosebery Road was formally one of the many racing stables that were located within the village. See the LV Heritage page for further details.

Built between 1916-1920 it was formally the home of Mr. Topper during the 1940s. It was later renamed "Fir Tree Cottage".

Built in 1898 this late 19th century building is Grade II listed by English Heritage. It was once the home of George Mitchell of the Mitchell Minstrels who regularly appeared on the 1960s television show "The Black and White Minstrel Show".

Photo taken in 2004

Formally the home of Professor and Mrs. Woodger.

The Flint House was formally the home of Tim Ely who, apparently liked to be called Major and rode a white horse. He ran a poultry farm and bred bull terriers. The property once stood in 3 acres of grounds which extended to and included the site of the council maisonettes.

No. 94 Beaconsfield Road taken in May 2005 prior to demolition. The adjoining property, No. 96 is also to be demolished. Where these two bungalows once stood, eight houses are now to be built on the site. Once, Langley Vale had fine properties in large gardens which made it a pleasant environment to live in. Sadly some of them are now lost or their gardens have been sold off and have been re-developed for much smaller, poked-in properties. I fear that more will probably go the same way over the coming years and that our village will become little more than an estate of three roads. What more can I say?

The last surviving stables in Langley Vale. 'Hillcot' was once owned by the trainer Cecil Ray.

Formally Mrs. Gabriell's house in Roseberry Road

This photo was taken in 2004

No. 65 is one of the few remaining original huts from the Woodcote Camp.

These cottages in Rosebery Road used to be called Mayfield Terrace and were built in 1903.

The corner of Grosvenor Road - devoid of the usual cars. This photo was taken in May 2005. The bungalow has recently been demolished (2007) and will be replaced by semi-detached houses.

The bottom of Grosvenor Road looking towards the R.A.C. Country Club.

Situated in Grosvenor Road and now converted into two separate dwelling houses the property was built about 1920.

The shop was devastated by a fire in the summer of 1976.

The top end of the road looking towards the Downs.

This is the tree in the dip at the top of Rosebery Road. A real local landmark.

The Warren is said to have originated as a hunting lodge and 25 acre estate built for Charles II about 1666. The Hare Warren was set up by Lord Baltimore in 1720 and, although not complete, it is one of only two that still survive in England. This was the era of the spa's popularity and a well existed here, too. In 1820 the Warren became the saddling enclosure for the racecourse. The saddling enclosure was later moved to Langley Bottom to which Prince Albert is reported to have rode before the Derby. The 18th century Warrener's Cottage still stands with the Warren entrance gate and wall integral with it, but the large 18th century mansion, Warren House, was destroyed by fire in 1914 and demolished about 1920. Only its gate posts remain.

Warrener's Cottage is 18th century and is Grade II listed by English Heritage.

Warren House was demolished somewhere about 1920 after a devastating fire in 1914.

Remains of the hare warren wall which enclosed the Warren. This photo was taken in 2004. The Warren is one of only two remaining hare warrens still in existance. The Warren wall is Grade II listed by English Heritage.

It was thanks to Lord Wigg and Stanley Wootton that Epsom Downs now belongs to the nation. In the words of George Wigg "I stood there, and I looked over that marvellous hill and over the trees on Walton Downs and there was Headley Church standing up, tin against the sky" - a view which has not changed. This photo was taken in 2004.

Nestling at the bottom of Six Mile Hill is Nohome Farm two mid 19th century flint cottages.

The view looking towards Gillett's Cottages and Headley Road.

This photo was taken from Grandstand Road on the 18th February 2008

This brilliant red sky lit up the whole of Epsom Downs on the evening of 18th February 2008. Here it can be seen over the Queens Grandstand.

Reputed to be the only pub in England to be situated at the end of the winning post. There had been a public house of that name for years on the site of the old rubbing house, where horses were rubbed down between heats. On 3 June 1857 a fire broke out and consumed the Rubbing House and the stablings and outbuildings belonging to it. In 1863 plans were drawn up for a new hotel, the Downs Hotel, costing £80,000 - five times as much as the Grand Stand had cost 35 years earlier. These plans were later scaled down and the present building was built. It was still called the Downs Hotel when I first came to the village in the late 1960s but, in latter years, has reverted to its original name, the Rubbing House. In 2003/2004 it was renovated and extended to include a restaurant, keeping much of its original features.

Lord Rosebery of the Durdans in Chalk Lane made the gift of this water trough to Epsom to celebrate his third Derby winner Cicero in 1905. It was originally placed outside the walls of the Durdans at the top of Ashley Road on the Downs but in 2005 it was renovated and now stands outside the Rubbing House at the end of the racecourse.

The original Prince's Stand was built for the Prince Regent (later George IV), who won the 1788 Derby with his horse "Sir Thomas". The original building was pulled down and rebuilt in 1879. There is no record of whether the original stand was completely demolished or only extended. Certainly the 'new' Prince's Stand bears little resemblance to the old, though subsequent repairs and alterations have disclosed some very old woodwork within, and there is still a cellar there which is certainly of much earlier origin.

The Queen's Stand and the Grandstand of 1927. The grandstand of 1927 was demolished in 2007.

The view of the Grandstands looking towards the winning post as seen from Tattenham Corner.

Home to the famous horse race, The Derby, which was first run here in 1780. The winner of the first Derby was a horse called Diomed who was owned by Sir Charles Bunbury of The Oaks, a nearby mansion at Woodmansterne. Since 1784, when the Derby had been extended to 1 1/2 miles, the start had been high on The Hill, behind Downs House (the Village side) and was out of the view of the those gathered in the grandstand. The Derby start was relocated to its present position in 1872. Racing seems to have come to Epsom Downs about 1618 when James I was at Nonsuch, although racing was very different in those times when foot racing rather than horse racing was the order of the day. Traditionally held at 3.30 p.m. on the first Wednesday in June, all the shops, banks and the Council offices in Epsom would close at midday and the town would become a ghost town for a few hours. The children at the Langley Vale village school finished school early on Derby Day so that they could see the big race, infact every locally closed.

Locally known as "The Sand Track" and site of the original race course from 1784 - 1847. The Old Derby Start was located on this side of the Downs somewhere in the vicinity north of the present-day "Gap" in Rosebery Road

The Coal & Wine Tax Posts (or 'Iron Men') are quite common in the Epsom area and were erected by the City of London sometime after 1861. They mark toll points that owe their origin to taxes collected since the Great Fire of 1666. This Coal & Wine Tax Post is situated on the downs at the top of Beaconsfield Road.

Langley Vale Road, 2004