Clapham history

Clapham is referred to at the time of King Alfred the Great, when it was spelt Clopeham or Clappeham, meaning “village on the hill”. Hardacanute, King of England, fell dead here in 1042 after a particularly wild party. In the 17th century it became a popular area for rich people to build county houses, but they had to run the gauntlet of the highwaymen of Clapham Common to get there. Samuel Pepys had a house there. There is a local legend that Captain Cook lived in a house on the north side of Clapham Common - the balcony on one of the houses is known as Captain Cook’s Quarterdeck. Many famous people lived there: Wilberforce, Shelley, and Macaulay. It was still exclusively a preserve for the rich until the trains arrived in the late 19th century. This and overspill from Battersea led to a lot of the area being redeveloped with terraced houses.