Clapham Apartments

Clapham began to grow in the late 17th century. In the late 18th century it became a fashionable place for the rich to live as it was close to the amenities of London but was in a rural setting away from the dirt and noise of the city. To us Medieval Clapham would seem a tiny place with a population of less than 100 people. Even by the standards of the time Clapham was a small village. For centuries Clapham remained a little farming settlement where life followed the rhythm of the seasons. Refugees arrived from the Great Plague of London in 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666. By the end of the century Clapham was quite a large village

You can trace the history of Clapham back well over a thousand years to a fairly insignificant ninth century collection of cottages on a hill. Over the next few centuries the huddle of cottages rapidly grew into a thriving Surrey village.

The original village of Clapham was centred on the area around Rectory Grove (to the north of the Old Town) and the original parish church stood on the site of the present St Pauls in that street. North Street was the main road leading into the village. Clapham lies in the hundreds of East Brixton, nearly four miles from Westminster Bridge, and is bounded by the parish of Lambeth on the east; Battersea on the north and west, and Stratham on the south. In Doomsday, it is said to consist of seven plough-lands; it now contains 1120 acres, of which the greater part is pasture.