I\u2019ve lived in Ewell my entire life, so I\u2019ll admit this upfront: I\u2019m biased.<\/p>\n
But when property consultants Garrington Property Finders ranked it the 20th best place to live out of 1,447 towns across England and Wales, I didn\u2019t roll my eyes the way locals often do when outsiders praise their hometown.<\/p>\n
Instead, I wondered if I\u2019d been taking it for granted, so I did something embarrassingly overdue.<\/p>\n
I spent a day actually walking in Ewell (pronounced YOU’LL, not E-WELL), without a destination.<\/p>\n
I started along Green Lane, where neat suburban houses gradually loosen their grip on the landscape.<\/p>\n
Green Lane. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)<\/p>\n
The road narrows, and nature starts to overtake, and before you really notice the transition, you\u2019re standing in Hogsmill Local Nature Reserve.<\/p>\n
Winter has stripped the place back to its bones, so there are no dramatic colours or warm picnic scenes.<\/p>\n
I tried to preserve dignity at first, stepping carefully along the edges, but five minutes later, I accepted defeat and committed to the squelch.<\/p>\n
Further along lies Chamber Mead Wetland, a newly restored floodplain at the meeting point of Ewell Court Stream and the Hogsmill River.<\/p>\n
Chamber Mead Wetlands. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)<\/p>\n
Designed to reduce pollution, improve biodiversity and help manage flooding, it\u2019s a key part of restoring the river\u2019s natural flow.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a beautiful sight, which only gets better as the weather gets warmer and the sun finally comes out.<\/p>\n
Hogsmill River runs through Ewell. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)<\/p>\n
Beyond the wetland, the Hogsmill\u2019s famous stepping stones have finally reopened to the public after months of closure, though they still lie submerged, so I didn\u2019t risk deliberately getting my shoes wet.<\/p>\n
The route pulls you toward Ewell Court House, cared for by the Ewell Court Preservation Trust.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve passed it countless times in my life, yet this was the first time I actually stopped to read about the restoration work.<\/p>\n
Heading back toward the centre, Ewell shifts from countryside calm to commuter practicality.<\/p>\n
Two separate stations, Ewell East railway station and Ewell West railway station, serve the area, and the bridges crossing the tracks unexpectedly double as viewpoints.<\/p>\n
I paused halfway across one, where you can see the houses stretch out in the distance.<\/p>\n
It looked cohesive, like the village had quietly arranged itself while I wasn\u2019t paying attention.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the circular 1970s building, Bourne Hall, which is futuristic beside older cottages.<\/p>\n
Inside, there\u2019s a library, community hub, theatre, and even a museum charting Ewell’s history from prehistoric settlement through Roman occupation to its suburban present.<\/p>\n
Bourne Hall Museum. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)<\/p>\n
Standing minutes from the High Street, looking at Roman artefacts was surreal when I realised that I\u2019d grown up here without really clocking how far back the story goes.<\/p>\n
From there, I wandered onto the High Street, affectionately known as Ewell Village.<\/p>\n
This was the moment that genuinely surprised me.<\/p>\n
How had I never properly noticed the number of independent shops?<\/p>\n
One of them was Honey & Bamboo, a zero-waste refill store offering everything from pasta to cleaning products by weight.<\/p>\n
Honey & Bamboo. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)<\/p>\n
It felt modern and thoughtful, the sort of place you expect in a trendy neighbourhood, not one you\u2019ve walked past since childhood.<\/p>\n
Living somewhere can make you blind to it, where you see routes, but not places.<\/p>\n
By early afternoon, I\u2019d earned food.<\/p>\n
For somewhere that feels small, Ewell has a surprising amount of choice, but I settled on gastropub The Spring Tavern.<\/p>\n
The Spring Tavern. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)<\/p>\n
Even with scaffolding outside during ongoing works, it had that classy atmosphere inside with its warm lighting and easy chatter.<\/p>\n
I went for the \u00a321.95 two-course lunch deal, which did not disappoint in the slightest.<\/p>\n
I can only imagine how packed it gets on Sunday when it comes to roast dinner time.<\/p>\n
After lunch, I looped through more open land because, in Ewell, you\u2019re never far from it.<\/p>\n
Gibraltar Recreation Ground and Bakers Field sit minutes apart, part of a patchwork of parks stitched into daily life rather than set aside as destinations.<\/p>\n
Gibraltar Square. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)<\/p>\n
Gibraltar Rec has just undergone a huge renovation after more than a decade of the same equipment.<\/p>\n
Bakers Field is much more low-key, with less to do playground-wise, but still an expansive green space.<\/p>\n
Something great about Ewell is the way something so unshowy ends up feeling incredibly complete.<\/p>\n
The Chessington Road strip is a perfect example, where a humble run of shopfronts quietly covers everything from your emergency pint of milk to your late-night chips.<\/p>\n
Parade of shops on Chessington Road, that has everything from corner shops, kebab shops, chicken shops, cafes, barbers, tanning salon, and laundrette. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)<\/p>\n
On a drizzly weekday evening, when Classic Fry, Istanbul Kebab and the Co\u2011op are all lit up, it feels less like a random row of units and more like the village\u2019s unofficial common room.<\/p>\n
The strip has a barber, salon, launderette, and even a funeral director\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
By the end of the day, I understood something slightly uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
I thought I knew Ewell because I\u2019d lived here my whole life, but turns out I\u2019d just been moving through it.<\/p>\n
Ranking lists measure transport links, schools and property prices, but they don\u2019t measure the experience of going from muddy riverside to historic museum to independent shops to a warm pub lunch all within a single afternoon.<\/p>\n
Maybe that\u2019s why the ranking didn\u2019t surprise locals.<\/p>\n
Ewell doesn\u2019t try to impress you, but it just quietly works, and only when you stop do you realise how much was there the entire time.<\/p>\n
So yes, I\u2019m biased, but after finally spending a day properly seeing it, I\u2019d probably rank it highly too.<\/p>\n
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