Old St George's Church Esher
Esher Park Avenue, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9PX
Old St George's Church, described in the Surrey volume of Sir Nikolaus Pevsner's The Buildings of England series as "a delightful, most endearing little church", was built from a jumble of sandstone and brick in the 1540s, but with significant additions between 1724 and 1842. The fine Tudor beams still support the roof. The church's glorious eighteenth century fittings include a three-decker pulpit, fine George II royal arms and memorials by the monumental mason Henry Cheere and the sculptors John Flaxman and Richard James Wyatt. The most striking feature is, however, the spectacular private pew, with its own box pews and fireplaces, designed in 1724 by Sir John Vanbrugh, the architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. The church also contains a large monument by local Esher sculptor, Francis Williamson, which commemorates George IV's only legitimate child, Princess Charlotte of Wales and her husband Prince Leopold, who later became the first King of the Belgians.
Esher Park Avenue, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9PX