Coordinates: 51°22′09″N 0°21′54″W / 51.3691°N 0.365°W / 51.3691; -0.365

Esher ⁱ/ˈiːʃər/ 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.

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.

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.

Surrey /ˈsʌri/ is a county in the South East of England, and one of the home counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford.Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of Greater London since 1965. The London boroughs of Lambeth, Wandsworth and Southwark were considered part of Surrey until 1889; and Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Sutton, Barnes and Richmond - all now reclassified as part of Greater London - were part of Surrey until 1965.

Surrey is divided into 11 boroughs and districts: Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Waverley, Woking. After the elections of 1 May 2008, the Conservatives are in control of 10 out of 11 councils in Surrey, with Epsom and Ewell in Residents Association control. The Conservatives hold all 11 Parliamentary constituencies within the county borders.