We had twenty nine attendees and once again our Chairman Michael Fisk had the pleasure of welcoming a potential new member to enjoy with us a fine lunch of Pork Medallions, Herb & Smoked Paprika Crust, Sweet Potato Fritters followed by a delightful dessert of Strawberries & Cream Cheesecake.
Our after lunch speaker was David Brooks who is a curator at the Bourne Hall Museum. His talk was entitled "Ewell from the Romans" but as he explained it was settled well before the Romans in the Bronze and Iron Ages due to the presence of the Spring. The Romans constructed their straight road 'Stane Street' from London Bridge to Chichester although the importance of the Spring at Ewell to the local tribes caused them to deviate from the true line to the coast.
There were plenty of mills on the river Hogsmill but I didn't realise that after their original use as flour mills, they became paper mills and eventually gun powder mills from the seventeenth century and finally closed in 1875. Unfortunately due to the nature of the process there were several disastrous explosions over the years and the gun powder was sent to London on the passenger trains from East Ewell station! Ewell gun powder was exported around the world and was used in the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian war.
Other highlights from Ewell's history included Henry's Palace in Nonsuch Park and the Pre-Raphaelite painters William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais
Thank you David for a fascinating insight into our local history, we will need to visit the Museum in Bourne Hall soon.
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