Esher

Esher ⁱ/ˈiːʃər/^[2] is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles (22.7 km) south west of Charing Cross.

Esher lies on the A307, Portsmouth Road. Esher railway station (served by the Waterloo via Weybridge service) connects the town to London Waterloo. Sandown Park Racecourse lies in the town near the station.

The local newspaper is the Esher News and Mail.

History

Esher lay within the Saxon administrative district of Elmbridge hundred.

Esher appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Aissela and Aissele. It was held partly by the Abbey of the Cross in Normandy; partly by William de Waterville; partly by Reginald; partly by Hugh do Port; partly by Odard Balistarius (probably a crossbowman). Its domesday assets were: 14 hides 6 ploughs, 2 acres (8,100 m²) of meadow. It rendered £6 2s 0d.^[3]

In the 16th century, King Henry VIII commandeered the area as a royal hunting ground, and the town was wealthy. It grew as a stagecoach stop on the London–Portsmouth road that was later designated as the A3 road, although it was bypassed in the mid-1970s, when it became the A307. Clive of India built the Claremont mansion, and this later became a royal residence used by Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria lent the house to the exiled French King Louis-Philippe and his consort Queen Marie-Amelie after the revolution of 1848. Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg lived there until he became King of the Belgians.

George Harrison of the Beatles had a house (called Kinfauns) in Esher, during the 1960s. The other Beatles were regular visitors to the house, and Harrison's primitive home recording studio.

Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees also owned a house called The Firs in Esher, during 1970s-2004 and sold after his death. This is where the hit Single 'Juliet' was written and recorded by Maurice & Robin for brother Robin's solo album project in the 1980s.

Status in the media

Esher has been presented in some parts of the media as a particularly middle class part of suburbia. Monty Python referred to Esher at least three times. In episode 9 of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a troupe member (Terry Jones) dressed as an 'African Native' said: 'Full frontal nudity? Not in this part of Esher.'

Then in episode 31, a tourist played by Eric Idle complaining about package holidays ranted about 'middle-class stockbrokers' wives busily buying identical holiday villas in suburban development plots just like Esher, in case the Labour government gets in again…'

Furthermore in episode 36, a character played by Michael Palin was complaining about a rare disease that affected his use of language and stated: 'It's so embarrassing when my wife and I go to an orgy.' John Cleese's character responded: 'A party?!' To which Palin responded: 'No, an orgy. We live in Esher.'

Python member Idle's All You Need Is Cash, a 1978 mockumentary of a fictional Beatles-like band called The Rutles, mentions Esher. Parodying the "Paul is dead" rumors surrounding the supposed death of Beatle Paul McCartney, Idle, narrating the film, says of one Rutles member, "Stig, was, of course, far from dead ... although not in fact far from Esher." Idle is standing in front of a sign saying "Welcome to Esher" in the shot.^[4]

The middle-class suburbia theme was taken up again in Only Fools and Horses. In the episode 'Yuppy Love', Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and Del Boy (David Jason) are arguing over the morality of Del's decision to buy, and then hopefully sell, their Peckham council flat. Rodney says: 'Del, council properties were built so the poorer classes would have somewhere to live! If they start selling them to Hooray Henrys where are they gonna go?' To which Del casually replies: 'Esher, Orpington - somewhere like that.'

Esher was often referred to in The Good Life by Margo Leadbetter as both a place to aspire to after Surbiton and somewhere where behaviour was more lax.

The sitcom On the Up starring Dennis Waterman was set in Esher.

In the Doctor Who episode 'Black Orchid', several characters believe Nyssa's home planet of Traken to be near Esher. One character states that Nyssa's lack of knowledge of Esher shows good taste.

There is a local farmers market held on one Saturday every month, moving forward one week each month. Vendors from all over Surrey sell locally sourced produce.

Moore Place, on the outskirts of Esher (now a bar and restaurant called Esteem), featured as the restaurant in the 4th episode of the first series of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.^[5]

See also

• Esher Place
• St. George's Church, Esher
• Claremont
• Esher Commons
• West End, Esher

References

1. ^ Population figures (PDF)
2. ^ Not /ˈɛʃər/
3. ^ Surrey Domesday Book
4. ^ All You Need Is Cash . Retrieved 2 May 2011.
5. ^ Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: Moore Place - TV.com

External links

• History of Esher
• Christ Church, Esher
• West End Flower Show