Business owners celebrated a four-year dream with the official opening of their café at the weekend.

Alex and Peter Icevski had spent four years finalising agreements with the council, but on Saturday, June 3 the deputy mayor of Epsom and Ewell Neil Dallen cut the tape, declaring the café open.

The Mad Hatter entertained children as they enjoyed a giant inflatable slide in the June sunshine, while parents played croquet, as well as an historical trivia game, celebrating the park’s Tudor heritage.

Auriol Park was a former hunting ground of King Henry VIII.

Once part of Nonsuch Park, Auriol Park was created in 1538 by Henry VIII to celebrate the 30th year of his accession and the birth of his son, the future Edward VI.

James I enlarged Nonsuch Park in 1606, absorbing Auriol Park into its boundaries.

At this time, Nonsuch Park was divided into the Great Park in the north and the southerly Little Park – the Nonsuch Park we know today.

By 1627, the Great Park had become known as Worcester Park, and in 1731 it was sold off for agricultural land.

The café’s menu will include a poppy seed cake as its specialty as well as healthy children’s lunch options.