Editing Clapham (section)

==History==

===Early history===
The present day Clapham High Street is on the route of a [[Roman roads in Britannia|Roman road]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/services/leisureculture/localhistory/local/ashorthistoryofclaphamandstockwell.htm |title=A Short History of Clapham and Stockwell |publisher=Lambeth.gov.uk |access-date=13 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303102858/http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/LeisureCulture/LocalHistory/Local/AShortHistoryOfClaphamAndStockwell.htm |archive-date=3 March 2013  }}</ref> The road is recorded on a Roman monumental stone found nearby. According to its inscription, the stone was erected by a man named Vitus Ticinius Ascanius. It is estimated to date from the 1st century AD. (The stone  was discovered during building works at Clapham Common South Side in 1912. It is now placed by the entrance of the former Clapham Library, in the Old Town.)<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1080492|desc=Roman Altar in forecourt of number 1 (public library)|access-date=9 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/hedgiecc/5690237380/ |title=Photograph of Roman stone at Clapham Library |date=5 May 2011 |publisher=Flickr.com |access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref>

According to the history of the Clapham family, maintained by the [[College of Heralds]], in 965 King [[Edgar of England]] gave a grant of land at Clapham to Jonas, son of the Duke of Lorraine, and Jonas was thenceforth known as Jonas "de [of] Clapham". The family remained in possession of the land until Jonas's great-great grandson Arthur sided against [[William I of England|William the Conqueror]] during the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066 and, losing the land, fled to the north (where the Clapham family remained thereafter, primarily in [[Yorkshire]]).{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Clapham's name derives from [[Old English]], meaning 'homestead or enclosure near a hill', with the first recorded usage being ''Cloppaham'' circa 880.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mills |first=A. D. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22983068 |title=A dictionary of English place names |date=1991 |isbn=0-19-869156-4 |location=Oxford [England] |pages=80–81 |oclc=22983068}}</ref>

Clapham appears in [[Domesday Book]] as ''Clopeham''. It was held by Goisfrid (Geoffrey) de Mandeville, and its domesday assets were three [[hide (unit)|hide]]s, six [[Carucate|plough]]s, and {{convert|5.0|acre}} of [[meadow]]. It rendered £7&nbsp;10s&nbsp;0d, and was located in [[Brixton (hundred)|Brixton hundred]].<ref>[http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm Surrey Domesday Book] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715015325/http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |date=15 July 2007 }}</ref>

The parish comprised {{convert|1233|acre}}. The benefice remains to this day a rectory, and in the 19th century was in the patronage of the [[Atkins baronets|Atkins]] family: the tithes were commuted for £488&nbsp;14s. in the early 19th century, and so the remaining [[glebe]] comprised only {{convert|11|acre}} as of 1848. The church, on the site of the current [[St Paul's Church, Clapham|St Paul's]] and belonging to [[Merton Priory]] was, with the exception of the north aisle which was left standing for the performance of burials, taken down under an act of parliament in 1774.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Clackheaton – Clare {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp616-620#h3-0014 |access-date=5 June 2022 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> A new church, [[Holy Trinity Church, Clapham|Holy Trinity]], was erected in the following year at an expense of £11,000 ({{Inflation|UK|11000|1774|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}), on the north side of the common.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50879 |title=Clackheaton – Clare |author=Samuel Lewis (publisher) |author-link=Samuel Lewis (publisher) |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1848 |work=A Topographical Dictionary of England |access-date=4 November 2014 }}</ref>

===Clapham in the 17th–19th centuries===
In the late 17th century, large [[English country house|country house]]s began to be built there, and throughout the 18th and early 19th century it was favoured by the wealthier merchant classes of the [[City of London]], who built many large and gracious houses and villas around [[Clapham Common]] and in the Old Town. [[Samuel Pepys]] spent the last two years of his life in Clapham, living with his friend, protected at the Admiralty and former servant [[William Hewer]], until his death in 1703.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZloJAAAAIAAJ&q=%22levett+blackborne%22&pg=PA35 |title=Old Clapham, John William Grover, A. Bachhoffner, London, 1892 |access-date=13 March 2013|last1=Grover |first1=John William |year=1892 }}</ref>

Clapham was also home to [[Elizabeth Batts Cook|Elizabeth Cook]], the widow of [[Captain James Cook]] the explorer. She lived in a house at 136 Clapham High Street<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/elizabeth-cooks-house-136-clapham-high-street-clapham/ |title=Elizabeth Cook’s house, 136 Clapham High Street, Clapham |publisher=London Borough of Lambeth |access-date=20 September 2024}}</ref> for many years following the death of her husband.

Other notable residents of Clapham Common include [[Palace of Westminster]] architect [[Charles Barry|Sir Charles Barry]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/121 |title=Sir Charles Barry plaque listing on Open Plaques |publisher=Openplaques.org |access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref> Norwegian composer [[Edvard Grieg]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.norway.org.uk/News_and_events/culture/music/griegplaque/ |title=Norway in Britain website Edvard Greig plaque listing |publisher=Norway.org.uk |access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref> and 20th century novelist [[Graham Greene]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/blue-plaque-for-graham-greene/ |title=English Heritage plaque listing for Graham Greene |publisher=English-heritage.org.uk |date=1 April 2011 |access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref> [[John Francis Bentley]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/657 |title=John Francis Bentley plaque listing on Open Plaques |publisher=Openplaques.org |access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref> architect of [[Westminster Cathedral]], lived in the adjacent Old Town.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the [[Clapham Sect]] were a group of wealthy City merchants (mostly [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] [[Anglican]]) social [[reform movement|reformers]] who lived around the Common. They included [[William Wilberforce]], [[Henry Thornton (abolitionist)|Henry Thornton]] and [[Zachary Macaulay]], father of the historian [[Thomas Macaulay]], as well as [[William Smith (abolitionist)|William Smith]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP), the [[English Dissenters|Dissenter]] and [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]]. They were very prominent in campaigns for the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|abolition]] of [[slavery]] and [[child labour]], and for [[prison reform]]. They also promoted [[missionary]] activities in [[British colonies|Britain's colonies]]. The Society for Missions to Africa and the East (as the [[Church Mission Society]] was first called) was founded on 12 April 1799 at a meeting of the [[Eclectic Society (Christian)|Eclectic Society]], supported by members of the Clapham Sect, who met under the guidance of [[John Venn (priest)|John Venn]], the Rector of Clapham.<ref name="I1">{{cite journal|last1= Mounstephen |first1= Philip |author-link1=Philip Mounstephen |title= Teapots and DNA: The Foundations of CMS|url=http://www.nzcms.org.nz/teapots-and-dna-the-foundations-of-cms-intermission-issue-22/ |year= 2015 |journal= Intermission|volume=22}}</ref> By contrast, an opponent of Wilberforce, merchant and slave-trader [[George Hibbert]] also lived at Clapham Common, worshipping in the same church, Holy Trinity.<ref name=GHcom>{{cite web|title=George Hibbert (1757–1837)|url=http://www.georgehibbert.com/george.html|website=George Hibbert.com|access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref>

In 1848, Clapham was described in the ''[[Samuel Lewis (publisher)#A Topographical Dictionary of England|Topographical Dictionary of England]]'' as a village which "has for many years, been one of the most respectable in the environs of the [[London|metropolis]]".<ref name=":0" /> At this time, the patronage of Holy Trinity church belonged to the [[Atkins baronets|Atkins family]].<ref name=":0" />

===Clapham in the 20th and 21st centuries===
After the coming of the [[History of rail transport in Great Britain|railways]], Clapham developed as a suburb for commuters into central London.  [[Clapham High Street railway station]] opened in 1862 and the underground [[City and South London Railway]] was extended to the area in 1900.  By 1900 Clapham had fallen from favour with the upper classes. Many of their grand houses had been demolished by the middle of the 20th century, though a number remain around the Common and in the Old Town, as do a substantial number of fine late 18th- and early 19th-century houses. Today's Clapham is an area of varied housing, from the large Queen Anne-, Regency- and Georgian-era homes of the Old Town and Clapham Common, to the grids of Victorian housing in the Abbeville area. As in much of London, the area also includes [[social housing]] on estates dating from the 1930s and 1960s.

In the early 20th century, Clapham was seen as an ordinary commuter suburb, often cited as representing ordinary people: hence the familiar "[[The man on the Clapham omnibus|man on the Clapham omnibus]]". By the 1980s, the area had undergone a further transformation, becoming the centre for the [[gentrification]] of most of the surrounding area. Clapham's relative proximity to traditionally expensive areas of central London led to an increase in the number of middle-class people living in Clapham. Today the area is generally an affluent place, although many of its professional residents live relatively close to significant pockets of social housing.

===Local government===
[[File:Wandsworth Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|A map showing the Clapham wards of Wandsworth Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916.]]
Clapham was an [[ancient parish]] in the county of Surrey.<ref name=vh>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43028 |title=Parishes: Clapham |editor=H.E. Malden  |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1912 |work=A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 |access-date=4 November 2014 }}</ref> For [[poor law]] purposes the parish became part of the Wandsworth and Clapham Union in 1836.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10164229|title=Clapham Holy Trinity AP/CP through time – Census tables with data for the Parish-level Unit|work=visionofbritain.org.uk}}</ref> The parish was added to the [[General Register Office|Registrar General]] London Metropolis area in 1844 and consequently it came within the area of responsibility of the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]] in 1855. The population of 16,290 in 1851 was considered too small for the Clapham vestry to be a viable sanitary authority and the parish was grouped into the [[Wandsworth District (Metropolis)|Wandsworth District]], electing 18 members to the Wandsworth District Board of Works.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1855/120/pdfs/ukpga_18550120_en.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217231350/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1855/120/pdfs/ukpga_18550120_en.pdf |archive-date=17 December 2010 |url-status=live |title=Victoriae Reginae |website=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref> In 1889 the parish was transferred to the [[County of London]] and in 1900 it became part of the new [[Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth]]. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1904, becoming part of the single Wandsworth Borough parish for poor law. The former Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was divided in 1965 and the area of the historic parish of Clapham was transferred to the [[London Borough of Lambeth]], along with [[Streatham]].<ref name=vh/> Clapham [[Clapham (UK Parliament constituency)|gave its name to a Parliamentary constituency]] between 1885 and 1974. Between 1974 and 2024 Clapham was divided between the constituencies of [[Streatham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)|Streatham]] and [[Vauxhall_(UK_Parliament_constituency)|Vauxhall]]. From the [[2024_United_Kingdom_general_election|2024 General Election]] Clapham's wards are reunited in the new constituency of [[Clapham_and_Brixton_Hill_(UK_Parliament_constituency)|Clapham & Brixton]].