Monday will mark the beginning of a series of thought-provoking events around the borough commemorating the start of the Great War.

More than 400 men from Epsom and Ewell lost their lives in the war and people are invited to pay their respects by attending Reflections ceremonies at war memorials around the borough at which candles will be blown out.

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Recruitment for the First World War by the clock tower in Epsom 

This symbolic lights-out, at 11pm on August 4, will signify the moment when Britain declared war on Germany 100 years ago. Residents in their homes are also being invited to join in by turning off all house lights except one from 10pm to 11pm.

The next day, Tuesday August 5, a recruiting sergeant and other WWI reenactors will descend on Epsom marketplace to call on residents to enlist.

A military camp will then be set up on Saturday, August 9, in Derby Square, where singers will entertain troops and visitors can learn about life during the war and take part in activities.

Bourne Hall Museum has prepared a special exhibition to mark the centenary, Epsom and Ewell in the Great War.

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A service wagon which come to the military camp in Epsom

Clive Gilbert, researcher at Epsom and Ewell Local and Family History Centre, said the centre has created more than 60 display boards on this area's role in the war as part of the exhibition.

He said: "Many believed the war would be over by Christmas, and some fretted lest it should end before they could get to the front.

"The reality was very different. It dragged on for four years and three months and cost the lives of around 800,000 men from the UK, with another 1,600,000 wounded."

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Poppies sown in Ewell to commemorate the war

The exhibition covers war hospitals and camps in Epsom, young men who went off to fight, women who took part in the war effort, war horses, memorials and zeppelin raids.

It also includes artefacts such as a hand grenade money box, a welcome home banner, an old kit bag, prints, medals and a tobacco case which stopped a bullet.

Jeremy Harte, curator at Bourne Hall, said: "What we have got is the social history and the impact on Epsom and Ewell."

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Clive Gilbert by a display board in Bourne Hall

Giant poppies from the Royal British Legion have already appeared on lamp-posts in the borough and wild poppy seeds have been sown in its parks.

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Reflections

Monday, August 4, 10.40pm;

bring a candle or torch to:

  • Ashley Road war memorial, Epsom
  • Clock Tower, marketplace, Epsom
  • Bourne Hall Dipping Well war memorial, Ewell
  • Horton cemetery memorial
  • St Mary's Churchyard, Ewell
  • All Saints Church, West Ewell
  • Christ Church, Epsom Common

Epsom’s Recruiting Sergeant

Epsom marketplace; Tuesday, August 5; 11am to 2.30pm

Epsom’s Military Camp

Derby Square / Ebbisham Centre, Epsom; Saturday, August 9, 10.30am to 5pm

Epsom and Ewell in the Great War

Bourne Hall Museum, Spring Street, Ewell; Monday, August 4 to Saturday, August 16