Clapton is a district of
East London, England, in the
London Borough of Hackney
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south.
Clapton railway station
Clapton is a railway station on the Chingford branch of the Lea Valley lines, located in Upper Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney, east London. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and . The station ...
lies north-east of
Charing Cross
Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...
.
Geography and origins
The hamlet of Clapton emerged in the manor and
Ancient Parish of
Hackney.
Origins
The hamlet of Clapton was, from 1339 (when first recorded) until the 18th century normally rendered as Clopton, meaning the "farm on the hill". The Old English ''clop'' - "lump" or "hill" - presumably denoted the high ground which rises from the River Lea. Clapton grew up as a linear hamlet along the road subsequently known as Lower and Upper Clapton Road. As the area became urbanised, the extent of the area called Clapton eventually increased to encompass most of the north-eastern quarter of Hackney.
Scope
Because Clapton has never been an administrative unit, it has never had any defined boundaries, though the E5 postcode area (established in 1917) has been influential in shaping perceptions of the area's extent, E5 occupies most of the north-east of Hackney. The district borders the
River Lea (spelled Lea or Lee) to the east.
Describing Clapton as approximating to E5 is useful, but informal and imperfect - postcode areas are not intended to define districts. An example of the imperfection of using E5 is that part of the community around Clapton Common is excluded from the postal district despite almost always being publicly viewed as being part of Upper Clapton.
Administrative history
The
Ancient Parish of Hackney split from
Stepney
Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...
in the Middle Ages and had consistent boundaries from that time on. The parish was part of a highly autonomous area of south-east
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
called the
Tower Hamlets (or Tower division) which exercised power that were normally held at county and
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
level.
In 1900 the
Metropolitan Borough of Hackney
The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney.
Formation and boundaries
The borough was one of twenty-eight metropolitan boroughs ...
was formed, using the boundaries of the former parish, and it became part of the
County of London
The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...
. In 1965 Hackney merged with the boroughs of
Shoreditch and
Stoke Newington to form the modern
London Borough of Hackney
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, part of a new larger county of
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
.
Upper and Lower Clapton
Clapton was a linear hamlet covering an extended roadside area.
From the early 19th century, manorial courts distinguished the parts north and south of Lea Bridge Road as Upper and Lower Clapton, and those names soon passed into general use with Hackney Lane becoming known as Lower and Upper Clapton roads. In the late 19th century the stretch of road through the Clapton Common to Stamford Hill was named Clapton Common.
The junction with Lea Bridge Road is still used to define Upper and Lower Clapton; Kenninghall Road is an extension of Lea Bridge Road and as such also provides a convenient point of reference between the two parts of Clapton.
Clapton Park, on the eastern side of Lower Clapton, combines Victorian terraces around Chatsworth Road and the post-war Clapton Park Estate.
In the east of this neighbourhood, terraced housing was demolished by
Hackney Council
Hackney London Borough Council is the local government authority for the London Borough of Hackney, London, England, one of 32 London borough councils. The council is unusual in the United Kingdom local government system in that its executive fu ...
and rebuilt in the 1970s, with a small shopping precinct around Gilpin Square, and is today mostly a low-rise estate. Chatsworth Road's market, which historically ran 4-5 days a week, was revived as a Sunday market in 2010, having closed in 1990.
Latter history
Brooke House
A large house known as the King's House stood on the site now occupied by
BSix Sixth Form College
BSix Sixth Form College: Brooke House is a sixth form college located in Upper Clapton, London, England. It was established in 2002, giving students in Hackney the opportunity to study at a college close to where they live. Brooke House has prev ...
, as early 1476. The house was within a estate, which was described as the Manor of Hackney from about 1532 to the early 17th century — although there were two other manors in the south of the Parish.
[''Documentary evidence''](_blank)
''Survey of London
The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an A ...
'': volume 28: Brooke House, Hackney (1960), pp. 52-66. Date accessed: 22 January 2009
In 1532, Henry Algernon Percy,
Earl of Northumberland
The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...
, acquired the estate from Sir Richard Neville. However, in January 1535 the land was taken by
Henry VIII; in settlement of a debt. The King visited the house in April 1535 and on 24 September 1535 he granted his "manor or principal messuage of Hackney" to
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
, his chief minister. Cromwell refurbished the house, and on 1 May 1536, returned the house to the King. In July 1536,
Ralph Sadleir brought
Mary I of England
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
to the house to swear the
Oath of Supremacy before her father, and
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...
, the Queen. Henry continued to own the house until his death in January 1547.
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, died in the house in Hackney known as the "King's House" on 24 June 1604.
The name of the house derives from its purchase by
Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke
Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, ''de jure'' 13th Baron Latimer and 5th Baron Willoughby de Broke KB PC (; 3 October 1554 – 30 September 1628), known before 1621 as Sir Fulke Greville, was an Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman w ...
, in 1621 — which led to ownership by the family for over 200 years. The house became tenanted after 1724, but in 1758–9 the house was modified by a leasee, William Clarke who converted it to a lunatic asylum. The site remained in this use until 1940.
The remains of the house were destroyed by
enemy action in October 1940. of Brooke House were purchased by the
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
in 1944, and further bomb damage occurred that year. The house was finally demolished in 1954, and archaeological investigations of the Tudor palace took place in 1955–6. New school buildings were erected in 1960, designed by Armstrong and MacManus.
21st century
The
2011 England riots affected Clapton, with Clarence Road being the epicentre of the rioting in the district, and was the site of
Pauline Pearce Pauline Pearce is a British Liberal Democrat campaigner and anti- knife crime activist. Pearce came to prominence during the 2011 England riots, featuring in a viral video in which she chastised rioters, leading her to be dubbed the Heroine of Hackn ...
's viral "Heroine of Hackney" speech, where she chastised rioters for their behaviour.
In 2018, parts of Clapton were flooded due to a burst water main on Waterworks Lane off the Lea Bridge Road, with flood water pouring into the
River Lea.
Local features
The Abode of Love
Upper Clapton is home to one of London's more unusual churches, the Church of the Good Shepherd, which was used as a place of worship by a splinter group of the
Catholic Apostolic Church
The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.[Georgian Orthodox Church
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...]
. However, the church was originally built by the
Agapemonite cult in 1892 as the Church of the Ark of the Covenant.
The Agapemonites, who held decidedly unconventional views on marriage and the role of women, relocated to Upper Clapton from their spiritual community in
Spaxton
Spaxton is a small village and civil parish on the Quantocks in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England.
History
Spaxton was part of the hundred of Cannington.
The modern parish includes the ancient parishes of Aisholt and Charl ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, and had clearly prospered by this time. Although it is fairly conventional in floor plan, the outside of the church is a riot of statuary and symbolism. The main doorways sport large carvings of angels and the four evangelists symbolised by a man, an eagle, a bull and a lion. The same four figures, cast in bronze, look out over the four quarters of the Earth from the base of the steeple. The two flanking weather vanes show a certain symbolic debt to
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
's ''Jerusalem'' depicting, as they do, a fiery chariot and a sheaf of arrows (presumably of desire), while the main steeple is clearly surmounted by a spear. The stained glass windows, designed by noted children's book illustrator
Walter Crane
Walter Crane (15 August 184514 March 1915) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Ka ...
, and made by J S Sparrow, betray the unconventional nature of the sect as they illustrate the 'true station of womankind'.
The church, which was completed in 1895, was designed by
Joseph Morris and his family, some of whom were members of the sect. The style is
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
; for its "curiosity value" it was designated a
Grade II-listed building on 12 September 1969.
![Upper clapton good shepherd 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Upper_clapton_good_shepherd_2.jpg)
The cult had always been surrounded by scandal during its sojourn in Somerset and, after the move to Clapton, this degenerated into sheer farce. The original leader,
Henry James Prince
The Agapemonites or Community of The Son of Man was a Christian religious group or sect that existed in England from 1846 to 1956. It was named from the el, italic=yes, agapemone meaning "abode of love". The Agapemone community was founded by ...
, who claimed to be immortal, died in 1899 and was succeeded by the charming but philandering
John Hugh Smyth-Pigott
The Agapemonites or Community of The Son of Man was a Christian religious group or sect that existed in England from 1846 to 1956. It was named from the el, italic=yes, agapemone meaning "abode of love". The Agapemone community was founded by ...
, who wasted no time before
declaring himself as the Messiah. Challenged by a jeering mob to prove his godhood by walking across
Clapton Pond
Clapton Pond is a pond and garden at Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney.
The name ‘Clapton’ or ‘farm on the hill’ is derived from the Old English words ‘clop’, meaning a lump or hill, and ‘ton’, meaning a farm.
For centuri ...
, Smyth-Pigott declined and retired to Somerset, where he was said to enjoy the favours of as many as seven "spiritual brides" a week. Smyth-Pigott, who also claimed immortality, died in 1927, after which the cult went into decline. The Clapton church had already been abandoned by the cult and was acquired first by the Ancient Catholic Church in 1956, and then by the
Georgian Orthodox Church
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...
in 2005.
The New Synagogue
![Upper clapton new synagogue 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Upper_clapton_new_synagogue_1.jpg)
Close by the Good Shepherd is the stately New Synagogue, on the eastern side of Clapton Common. This
Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...
is a little deceptive, appearing much older than it actually is. In spite of its handsome
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
-style exterior, this is actually post-
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
, built in 1915. It is, however, a faithful replica of an earlier building, the Great St Helen's Synagogue in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
, which was designed by John Davies in 1838. The current building contains a number of original fixtures from its predecessor. Endangered for a while, the synagogue was restored in 2005.
Anchor and Hope pub
![Upper clapton anchor and hope](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Upper_clapton_anchor_and_hope.jpg)
The Anchor and Hope pub, which is not far from the south-east corner of Springfield Park, is a survivor of the heavy bombing along the Lea during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and is one of the few survivors of the terraced housing that once dominated the area. It is now quite overshadowed by pre- and post-war blocks of flats.
Urban fabric
Large parts of Lower Clapton look much as they did when the area was first developed in the second half of the 19th century. Most of the housing stock consists of
Victorian terraces of various sizes. Several highrise LPS constructions erected by the Council in the late 1960s and early 1970s were demolished in the 1990s to make way for lowrise Local Authority housing, e.g. the Clapton Park Estate.
Open spaces
*
Clapton Pond
Clapton Pond is a pond and garden at Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney.
The name ‘Clapton’ or ‘farm on the hill’ is derived from the Old English words ‘clop’, meaning a lump or hill, and ‘ton’, meaning a farm.
For centuri ...
has existed since the 1600s and was re-landscaped for public use in the late 1800s, which largely survives today. In 2004 funds were raised by a neighbourhood action group to install modern improvements to this historic green. As a result of the restoration project, Clapton Pond has become a vibrant and well used community park. In February 2022, Hackney Council concluded a 60,000£ landscaping and upgrading of the play area to cater to the many young families living in the area.
* The
Springfield Park was formed in 1905 from the grounds of three private houses, one of which still survives as a cafe, and is today a
local nature reserve.
*
Clapton Square is a public garden square that is close to
Hackney Central
Hackney Central is a sub-district of Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney in London, England and is four miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross.
The Hackney Central area is focused on Mare Street and the retail areas to the north o ...
. It was laid out in 1816 in the fields of the-then manor of Hackney owned by the Tyssen family. It would be homes for senior merchants, officers and financial brokers as an upmarket residential square.
['Hackney: Clapton', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10, Hackney, ed. T F T Baker (London, 1995), pp. 44-51. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol10/pp44-51.] It is a
Conservation Area which was designated in 1969 – extended in 1991 and again in 2000.
*
Hackney Downs
Hackney Downs is a park and an area of historically common land in the Lower Clapton area of the London Borough of Hackney. The name is sometimes also used to apply to the neighbourhood around the park.
Hackney Downs Park
The Downs open space ...
is a 16 hectare (40 acre) park and area of former common land in Lower Clapton.
* Clapton Common, originally Broad Common, is small area of former common land in Upper Clapton. A disused 1931 toilet block on the common was transformed into Liberty Hall, a community space, in 2020, following a grassroots campaign.
* Parts of
Hackney Marshes might also be described as being in Clapton.
* Millfields Park, created by
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
in 1884 incorporating former
Lammas land. The eastern side of the park borders on the Lea river and its towpaths, the southern part goes along Chatsworth Road, and to the North it stretches almost to 200 meters from
Clapton Station. The park is lined by mature plane and elm trees, includes tennis court, basketball courts, a cricket pitch several modern children play areas. A
active groupof local park users aim to improve its use for residents and biodiversity. Work underway in 2022 includes the creation of a treeline
cycle and pedestrian routegoing east-west. The park has
Green Flag Award status.
*Daubeney Fields, an 11-acre park formed of a remnant of Hackney Marsh, which includes the Hackney Bumps skatepark created in 1986 and renovated in 2019.
Sport
Clapton F.C.
Clapton Football Club is a football club based in Plaistow, East London. The club are currently members of the and play at the Terence McMillan Stadium in Plaistow following their 2019 eviction from their long-term home, the Old Spotted Do ...
was the original local football team, being formed in 1878.
Clapton Community FC split from Clapton F.C. in 2018, and are based in Walthamstow.
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...
, founded in 1881 and playing as Clapton Orient were based in the area, before moving to
Leyton
Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...
in 1937.
Education
Secondary schools in the area include
Clapton Girls' Academy and
Mossbourne Community Academy
Mossbourne Community Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located near Hackney Downs off the A104 road, in the Lower Clapton area of the London Borough of Hackney in England.
Buildings
The school w ...
. Mossbourne is located on the site of the former
Hackney Downs School
Hackney Downs School was an 11–16 boys, community comprehensive secondary school in Lower Clapton, Greater London, England. It was established in 1876 and closed in 1995. It has been replaced by the Mossbourne Community Academy.
History
...
. '
BSix Sixth Form College
BSix Sixth Form College: Brooke House is a sixth form college located in Upper Clapton, London, England. It was established in 2002, giving students in Hackney the opportunity to study at a college close to where they live. Brooke House has prev ...
is a
sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...
on a site near the Lea Bridge Roundabout.
Primary schools include Millfields Community School, visited by
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
in 2005, and Mandeville Primary School—alma mater of pop star and actor
Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leading ...
and 2021 recipient of
Civic Trust Awardfor the transformation of its former caretakers' house into th
Hackney School of Food this professional teaching kitchen and community garden is decorated with a large mural by French artist and illustrator
Jean Jullien
References
External links
{{LB Hackney
Districts of the London Borough of Hackney
Areas of London