3. CLAPHAM. OLD TOWN and other parts of the old village

This route, alongside RECTORY GROVE and  parts of OLD TOWN, are a diversion of the official LBTC tour until you get to GRAFTON SQUARE

First mentioned in the 12th c. It was near this spot where was the village original ch. but as it became a  fashionable suburb, in 1776, TRINITY CHURCH was b. in the COMMON, where the wealthy had their villas.

That ch. was demolished, ans it fell into disrepair and the present ST.PAUL’S was b. The original churchyard remained.

It was extended in 1879

A servant of STUART kings and a great friend of PEPYS, who retired  here and died in his house

However their burial place is unknown. Some information about them is contained in the burial register: some were sons of families indigenous of SIERRA LEONE. Others were from communities of free Black settlers from NOVA SCOTIA. Others, from the MAROON societies of JAMAICA.

More about the complex struggle of the AFRICAN DIASPORA against SLAVERY, in the CARIBBEAN, AFRICA and N.AMERICA. 

GEORGE HIBBERT headed the largest company trading with JAMAICA. From 1789 until the passage of the SLAVE TRADE ACT, he was the country’s most vocal ANTI-ABOLITIONIST, opposing W.WILBERFORCE in print and on the floor of the HOUSE OF COMMONS.

An ancient footway leading between the old main road from/to London to the village. 

Kenyan poet, economist and Br. civil servant. He bequeathed it to N.T, filled with his carvings 

Charming garden beside a cemetery largely cleared of tombstones.

The oldest part of the village

In no.8 ZACHARY MACAULEY set up the AFRICAN ACADEMY to educate the sons of families from S.L. The boys were educated here, 1799-1805. They were sons of traders and influent families. Religious instruction was very important. Measles was the main cause of death, but a growing body of opinion suggests that many pupils survived, returning to S.L.

The Academy moved to no.21 CLAPHAM COMMON NORTH SIDE

The young ladies were educated in an address in BATTERSEA RISE, by MARIANNE THORNTON.

The chapel is now the CLAPHAM POTTERY.

Society of the Good Shepherd. Chapel and refectory. Oak panel. 
It vas visited by PRINCESS ALEXANDRA OF TECK, DUCHESS OF ALBANY and by QUEEN MARY, the boys put on the guard of honour listed out in a white gym dress. 27 rooms, 60 teenage boys, some working as artisans or clerks, some students, from all parts of Ldn. RUSSELL BAKER was the warden.

Prior to the outbreak of WW2 the boys were moved to the country.

During WW2 here operated a CIVIL DEFENCE SOCIAL CLUB.

INGLETON HOUSE was demolished in 1989 and the present building erected by a housing association.

The chapel was still used in the 70s by social services, and then for employment training and by CAVE, community and voluntary education.

In 2009 the POTTERY relocated here, with the help of the London Community Regeneration department. Workshops take place, for elderly carers, for  children…

Lambeth Ace of Clubs Homeless Project. Mencap.

NAINE WOODROW, local potter, raised funds in order to buy the building.

North Street Potters

Demolished in 1837 and elegant villas b. Its turret gave name to the new street. Foundations still exist?

1838. Was here a hideaway of the LORD PROTECTOR?. Or did he visit the area?. Are Cromwell’s soldiers buried in the churchyard?

C.1790. Door surrounds in COADE STONE (artificial stone manufactured in the SOUTH BANK.

A bricked up arch once  led to the stables.

The most expensive property in the area: asking price of £3.8 mil

COADE STONE was made of a the secret recipe of ELEANOR COADE, in partnership with DANIEL LINCOT. After splitting up, she allied herself with the sculptor JOHN BACON, and established the COADE ARTIFICIAL STONE COMPANY. 
Hard wearing and resistant to the London smog. Fresh out of the kiln was also easily malleable for a short time afterwards, which was perfect for crating animated faces.

It was very useful after the 1774 LONDON BUILDING ACT, which banned unnecessary woodworks in new buildings

Refurbished in 2021, on the site of HOLY TRINITY RECTORY.

A school has been on this site at least from 1648. In the 1830s it had outgrown this site and was rebuilt first in 35 MACAULEY ROAD, and again in VICTORIA RISE.

However, here girls and infants were still taught by the 1960s. But it had become too small and the location was too hazardous.

A MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY GROUP occupied the building, renamed NATTRASS HOUSE, in honour of a benefactor. In 1999 it became a private house, attractively laid out by FREDERIQUE VAN DER VORM (who donated the plaque…)

An extension of the diversion!: to WANDSWORTH ROAD, and to the WEST of the route

Founded by the last CLAPHAM members of the HIBBERT family, 2 sisters, in 1859. The HIBBERT’s fortune came from their plantations in JAMAICA, laboured by SLAVES (GEORGE HIBBERT, WILLIAM WILBERFORCE’s  opponent)

1876. Flamboyant.

NAG’S HEAD LANE was the old name of  NORTH STREET

B. around 1870. 
BREWHOUSE BUILDINGS (end of the terrace) b. c. 1810

1830s and 1820s

Lillieshall Rd ended at the village cricket ground.

1887. Small and elaborate, and named after TIM BOBBIN, caricaturist and writer of humorous pieces in the LANCASHIRE dialect 

2 rows of pretty terraced houses

B. 1846 by Capt ROSS, of the Irish militia. Work was interrupted by a fire and it was left only completed on. 3 sides. A fashionable London garden square, more so typical of KENSINGTON than CLAPHAM. In the 19 th c. maids promenaded around here pushing perambulators, and inside the railed garden, which was planted (but in 1927 it was let to A  BOLTING, who established a tennis club here; later in the 20th c. it would become rundown, sloppy, unkempt, until WANDSWORTH C. took over, laying out seats, shelter and playground)

Demol. 1954, after being badly damaged during WW2.

Originally BAPTIST CH. 1889. Arch. WILLIAM NEVIS. Renov. 1959. Finally, after the collapse of the roof, it was sold out.

Surgery, as well

CAMRA says: Victorian pub  now completely opened out and decorated in restrained gastropub style, something of a landmark in the Old Town and on the weekend circuit. Young, upmarket clientele.

Guest beers may be from e.g. Purity and Sambrook’s as well as the ubiquitous Sharp's Doom Bar. Cider and Perry from Weston's range. Unusual range of bottled beers.

Food served all day.

Side patio.

Acoustic open mic sessions upstairs on Monday evenings”

It used to be a BASS pub

“A huge range of Craft Ales, Beers & Ciders have been served here since the Landlord dropped his anchor in 1979.

Studying the eclectic collection of “Object D’Art” and needful things from his many years at sea could while away a few hours, so you will never feel alone awaiting companions.

Come along and enjoy the atmosphere, the good beer, music & chat all delivered with a smile from our congenial barkeepers.

https://www.londongardenstrust.org/features/railings3.htm#:~:text=When%20iron%20gates%20and%20railings,of%20conjecture%20for%20many%20decades.

Georgian façade. DEAN & CO is the original name you can see on the upper side wall
MB bought the business (set up in 1829] at the beginning of the 20th c. 
She played an important part in the training of women pharmacists.

Motto of the ATKINSON BOWYER family, Lords of the Manor. Probably the relief comes from the manor house 

1939. Arch.PG BENTHAM. HQ of the NATIONAL UNION OF SEAMEN. The Union vacated the premises when, in 1990, joined RMT
Now offices and flats

Main façade (see entrance door): 9 windows…and all are different!

1787. The village was spreading.

ADAM BROTHERS interior. The owner was BENJAMIN BENTLEY.

From 1807 ROGER LEE, shipowner, builder, underwriter, overseer of Surrey Highways, treasurer of the  CONGREGATIONALIST CH. His wife, from a family of pedigree, contributed with a large dowry.

1819. DANIEL TURTIN JOHNSON.

1840s and 50s School first for ladies, then for boys. 1868, a WMCLUB.

1898. MRS. BUCKLAND  Laundry. Thriving, family business. In 1994 it merged with BLOSSOM ABD BROWNE. Closed (now only small shop in 8 OLD TOWN).

SYCAMORE MEWS is now a gated estate built on the site of laundry buildings. The main house is  now residential. Designer of bespoken furniture TIM GOSLING bought the first floor (18th c. features). His studio occupied a former laundry room.

Built in 1792 but extensevely rebuilt after WW2 damage.

Makers of TROJAN car

PL.: The arquitect of WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL lived in this QUEEN ANNE HOUSE. 1894 (year when work started at the new cathedral)-1902(he died here, before receiving the RIBA Gold  Medal he had been awarded). 
He was an ecclesiastical architect, master of neo-Byzantine (he hat travelled to Italy to study the cathedrals influenced by this style) and neo-Gothic.

Known as The Frog & Forget Me Not, then The Frog and since February 2014

1868. First publicly funded FIRE BRIGADE.

This station was designed by EDWARD CRESSY. 26 were b. Only 3 survive.

Originally run by the Parish, which had owned here a building since the 17th c.,at least, being the lock up for drunks, thieves and vagrants.

The parish brigade was not a great asset: first they had to find (his name was on notice boards) and fetch the man who had the key, and helpful neighbours would summon the members of the brigade.

Then, their reputation for efficiency was not great. Once, when the fire was reached… available hydrant had to be found…and coupled to the nose!. The metal coupling jammed…a  sledgehammer  were used… Finally, they send a messenger to summon the LFB who arrived (after 4 miles of galloping) when the whole building was already in ruins.

1866. The MFB was formed, run and funded by the  MBW, under CAPT. EYRE MASSEY SHAW (the only fireman to be commemorated by name in a GILBERT AND SULLIVAN  OPERETTA, IOLANTHE!)

In 1902 the second FIRE STATION was b., and this building became property of WANDSWORTH COUNCIL. Then, it was transferred back to the LCC, as a house for the KEEPER of the COMMON. 

Finally LAMBETH COUNCIL sold it out in 2004.

Next chapter: The official route enters the COMMON

https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/archivesandmanuscripts/2023/06/16/zachary-macaulay/

The modern centre of  CLAPHAM. A walk takes you first NE and then SW alongside the main road

https://aceofclubs.org.uk/

Some gems?

https://www.thelittleorangedoor.co.uk/

Developed by FRANCIS CHILD, 1825. This was the first multi-house development in Clapham.

The crescent on the right recalls Bath and Regents Park. Classical features include ionic columns to the porches and decorative ironwork.

Impaled crescent moons on top of the railings are a nice touch

To the left as you enter, lived Dr Gideon Mantell, whose wife, Mary Ann, was the first to whose wife. discover a fossil of the dinosaur Iguanodon.

built on the site of the former sweet factory, Batgers.

By Peter Deakins, 1978. With th long narrow windows, a homage to the design of windows in the painters' studio formerly here, which enabled large paintings to be removed unbent.

CH James, 1947-52. Take path, then road, ahead for 200 yards - keep fence (then

wall) on right. At the small turning circle pass between two blocks (half left.

Designed by Dr William Burgh (1793), in Greek temple style. Six ionic half-columns in Portland stone, topped by a pediment with flowery Coade Stone decoration. Across is written, in Latin, 'Here is eternal spring and summer in months not her own'.
Behind the now missing windows tender plants flourished, and Robert Thornton, Henry's loose living brother who later fled to America to escape his creditors, entertained Queen Charlotte in 1808. An ornamental lake reflected the scene. From 1851 to 1939 the Convent of NOTRE DAME was here.

A blend of styles. The former Henry Thornton School buildings of 1966 (Farmer and Dark) with their bold shapes and modern materials, particularly concrete, and the 2009 Sixth Form Centre (Building Design Partnership), with its striking curved brick drum. The school was named after

Henry Thornton was part of the Clapham Sect and friend of William Wilberforce in the campaign to abolish the slave trade.

The buildings cover the site of several former mansions. Lytton Strachey, the noted author and Bloomsbury group member, was born here in 1880,

The Pigeon sisters, Ann and Ellen, two of the earliest and most accomplished

women mountaineers, were born next door and Anna lived here until her death in 1917.

By GEORGE JENNINGS, c.1875

Then called  'Ben Lomond'. The top floors  were the family home of the teenage Noel Coward during the First World War. He later set the play This Happy Breed in Clapham between the wars, which also became a 1944 film directed by David Lean.

1780, in the lonic order with Venetian windows either side of the door and ladies' heads carved in the headstones.
Once the home of the 19th century architect Lewis Vuillamy.
Before him Alderman Humphery, Lord Mayor of London, and also Thomas Grissell, the building contractor responsible for Nelson's Column and other notable projects. It was a car showroom for fifty years till the 1980s.

No. 54 (Arthur Scantlebury 1875), Imposing residence with a wealth of classical detail including Corinthian columns and bath stone window surrounds. Caroline Perret who owned Wandsworth Brewery lived here in the 1890s.

Now business premises.

By Howarth Lichfield Partnership. Its walls fan out like the pages of a book.

An 18th century building still in its original use! Straight ahead is the oldest part, 1797, Georgian with sash windows.

There has been an alehouse here since at least 1665. In its days as a coaching inn it welcomed the rowdy crowds with their horses and donkeys, going to and from Epsom on Derby Day.

You can join the walk ending here with the LBTC route alongside NARBONNE AVENUE (next CHAPTER)