Clapham

Clapham, the name of several parishes and villages in the United Kingdom, the most important being the large parish (1,137 acres) that forms the S.W. suburb of London, and is situated in the county of Surrey, at a distance of 4 miles from St. Paul's. Around a breezy common there sprang up here in the last century a few solid and comfortable country houses, inhabited by well-to-do middle-class families. Under the influence of the Rev. H. Venn, who became vicar in 1759, and of his son John, who succeeded him, there grew up a vigorous evangelical colony that numbered among its members Wilberforce, Zachary Macaulay, W. Romaine, with other thoughtful and earnest men. Sidney Smith ridiculed them as The Clapham Sect, but their influence was far from contemptible. The neighbourhood has now become overcrowded with smaller tenements, and Clapham Junction has developed into one of the largest railway centres in the kingdom. Clapham and Battersea are united to form a parliamentary borough.