Past, present and future

By DAMIAN LE BAS

Editor

Colour on the Downs: the painter Sir Alfred Munnings was inspired by Romany people who stopped at Epsom around the turn of the 20th century

WHILE the head of a Surrey museum has spoken out about the deep roots of the Romany community in the area, there is still fear in some quarters about new Traveller sites being proposed for the county.

As Epsom and Ewell Council ponders where new sites might be located, Jeremy Harte- who is curator of the Bourne Hall Museum, situated in the borough- has shared some little known facts about the area's Romany history with the newspapers.

When Romany Gypsies first stayed in the area they were called "Babylonians" because nobody knew where they had come from, he told the Epsom Guardian.

The area's Romany people- many of whom share the same surnames as their descendants, hundreds of years later- were often at the sharp end of law and order. In 1785, two Romany women, Tabitha Clarke and Hannah Scamp, were imprisoned together with their nine children because they had "slept in the open air".

Mr Harte also told of happier stories preserved in history, like the marriage of preacher's daughter Liddie Gowan to a Romany boxer by the name of Chewbacca Matthews whom she feel in love with at the fair. 

Gypsy stopping places in the area included Banstead Road, Hook Road, Kingston Road and the Rifle Butts. 

Above: Romany women and children on Epsom Downs in the early 20th Century

The area's Gypsy history continues to the present day: there are two sites in Epsom and Ewell borough and others in nearby Claygate and Fetcham. However, many Romany people around Epsom live in houses and on their own land, and they form one of the biggest ethnic minorities in the area.

Yet in some areas, currents of suspicion between Gypsies and their non-Gypsy neighbours continue to run deep.

It was recently revealed that Hook Road Arena- in the vicinity of a traditional Gypsy stopping place- was being considered as a location for a new site by the Council.

When the news was leaked, the Council decided not to publish a list of possible sites.

Locals mentioned house prices being "severely affected" and said the area had been "plagued by problems with Gypsies for many years", though no specific cases were mentioned.