Moore Place was a historic mansion in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England. It was known as the "gateway to

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in the borough of Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London, close to the London–Surrey border; with Esher Commons at its ...

", the town in which it stood. The building's

gate lodge Gate Lodge is a small house located at Mount Austin Road on Victoria Peak, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Gate Lodge was built between 1900 and 1902. It is in Renaissance style. It was a part of the former complex known as Mountain Lodg ...

, completed in 1905, is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. Moore Place was listed in ''The'' ''Survey Gazetteer of the British Isles'' in 1914.

History

Built in the late 18th century or early 19th century, replacing a house which had been there since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the mansion had a glasshouse and formal garden, along with a nine-hole golf course which was opened in 1926. Alfred Hayes was living at Moore Place in 1860. Edmund Henry Hayes was the occupant three years later.

Lady Byron Anne Isabella Noel Byron, 11th Baroness Wentworth and Baroness Byron (; 17 May 1792 – 16 May 1860), nicknamed Annabella and commonly known as Lady Byron, was an educational reformer and philanthropist who established the first industrial s ...

, widow of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, lived at the mansion in the first half of the 19th century. In the 1920s, the building became a hotel and restaurant. It was later painted purple, which became a talking point. In 2004,

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...

visited the restaurant in an early episode of ''Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares''. The restaurant had been recently purchased by Richard Hodgson and Nick Whitehouse. They sold the business in 2006, when it became another bar and restaurant, Esteem. That business also failed, and the property was purchased by Moore Place Holdings. They were given permission to demolish the building, which happened in 2010. It was replaced two years later by a

care home Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...

. The adjacent golf club and course closed in 2019, after almost a century in business. In 2025, plans were submitted to build around 300 homes on the land.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore Place Esher Buildings and structures demolished in 2009 Demolished buildings and structures in Surrey 19th-century establishments in England 20th-century establishments in England