ESHER  , a township in the

Epsom parliamentary division of Surrey, England, 141 m . S.W. of London by the London & South WcszJ , railway (Esher and Claremont station) . It is pleasantly situated on rising ground above the river Mole, 3 M. from its junction with the Thames . To the north-west lie the grounds of Esher Place . Of the mansion-house founded by William of Waynflete, bishop of Winchester (c . 1450), in which Cardinal Wolsey resided for three or four weeks after his sudden fall from power in 1529, only the gatehouse remains . It is known as Wolsey's Tower, but is apparently part of Waynflete's foundation . A new mansion was erected in 1803 . To the south is Claremont Palace, built by the great Lord Clive (1769) on the site of a mansion of Sir John Vanbrugh . In 1816 it was the residence of Princess Charlotte, wife of Prince (afterwards King) Leopold . She died here in 1817, and on the death of her husband in 1865 the property passed to the crown . Louis Philippe, ex-king of the French, resided here from 1848 until his death in 185o .

In 1882 Claremont became the private property of Queer

Victoria . Christ Church, Esher, contains fine memorials of King Leopold and others, and one of its three bells is said to have been brought from San Domingo by Sir Francis Drake . To the north near the railway station is Sandown Park, where important race meetings are held . Esher is included in the urban district of Esher and The Dittons, of which Thames Ditton is a favourite riverside resort . The whole district is largely residential . Pop . (1901) 9489 .