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Clapham in Surrey County England History and GeographyCLAPHAM, a parish in the eastern division of the hundred of BRIXTON, county of SURREY, 4 miles (S.) from London, containing 7151 inhabitants. This village has, for many years, been considered as one of the most respectable in the environs of the metropolis. The road from London, particularly that part of it which is called Clapham Rise, has on each side large and handsome houses, with gardens and lawns in front, forming a continuous line leading to the common, which occupies a space of two hundred acres, surrounded by noble mansions and elegant villas; and from the improvements that have been made by the formation of carriage drives, and the plantation of exotic and native trees and shrubs, assumes the appearance of a park. On the east side a handsome crescent has been recently formed, opposite to which is a range of houses, called the Grove: the area is tastefully laid out in shrubberies, and planted with evergreens, and the approach from the common is formed by a handsome iron palisade, on each side of which is a stately mansion. In that part of the parish situated towards Brixton, which was formerly called Bleakhall Farm, considerable alterations and improvements are taking place: new roads have been made; a new church and several villas have been erected, and the spot is now designated Clapham New Park. The parish, previously watched and lighted under an act of parliament obtained in 1785, is now within the limits of the new police establishment, under Mr. Peel's bill; and in the year 1829, the road from London was lighted with gas, and main pipes laid down by a company, from which a plentiful supply is distributed to every part of the village and its vicinity. The inhabitants are supplied with water from the South Lambeth water-works, and from an excellent spring on the side of the common leading to Wandsworth, opened in 1825, near another which had supplied the village for more than a century; this spring, the water of which is peculiarly soft, supplies upwards of six hundred hogsheads per day, and nearly twenty families derive employment and support by conveying it to the houses of the inhabitants at a moderate expense. The subscription library, to which a commodious reading-room has been added, contains a well-assorted and extensive collection of volumes in various branches of literature; it has been established for nearly half a century, and is liberally supported. There is no trade except what is necessary for the accommodation of the numerous opulent families residing in the neighbourhood. Clapham is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold a petty session at the office of their clerk, every Saturday; and within that of the court of requests for the borough of Southwark, for the recovery of debts under £5, which, by an act passed in the 32nd of George III., was extended to this parish, in common with other places in the eastern division of the hundred of Brixton, not previously included. The acting coroner for the district is appointed at the court of the duchy of Lancaster, within the jurisdiction of which a part of the parish is comprehended: the parochial affairs are under the direction of a select vestry. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Surrey, and diocese of Winchester, rated in the king's books at £8. 0. 10., and in the patronage of William Atkins, Esq. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and which anciently belonged to the priory at Merton, was, with the exception of the north aisle, which was left standing for the performance of the burial service, taken down under an act of parliament in 1774, and a new church erected in the following year, at an expense of £11,000, on the north side of the common: it is a neat structure of brick, ornamented with stone, with a dome turret; and having a handsome portico of stone, extending the whole breadth of the western front, which was added to it in 1812. The interior is characterized by a chaste simplicity of style: the east window is ornamented with a modern but well executed painting on glass, and there are some monumental tablets; but no person is buried either in the church or church-yard, the cemetery of the old church being exclusively reserved for interments. The remaining aisle of the old church, which was situated in that part of the village leading to Wandsworth, and near the old manor-house, of which an octagonal tower is still remaining, was taken down in 1815, and a neat proprietary chapel, in some respects dependent on the mother church, was erected, under an act of parliament, at an expense of £5000, and dedicated to St. Paul. The burial-ground, which is spacious, contains many ancient tombs and monuments; and such of the latter as were in the old church have been put up against the exterior walls of the chapel. A proprietary episcopal chapel, dedicated to St. James, has recently been erected at Clapham New Park, under an act of parliament; it is a small handsome structure in the later style of English architecture, with a square embattled tower crowned with pinnacles. There are two places of worship for Independents, and one for Baptists. The parochial school is supported by subscription: the premises were originally built at the expense of the inhabitants, on ground given for that purpose by Richard Atkins, Esq., lord of the manor; the school-house was taken down and rebuilt in 1781, and in 1809 it was considerably enlarged: upwards of two hundred children now receive instruction. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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