Sir Alfred William Clapham, (1883 – 1950) was a British scholar of

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

. He was Secretary of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) and President of the Society of Antiquaries.

Early life

Alfred Clapham was born in Dalston, East London on 27 May 1883 to the Rev. James Clapham and Lucy Elizabeth Clapham 9 (née Hutchinson). He was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

and then took up a position with the ecclesiastical architect James Weir. He soon transferred to the

Victoria History of the Counties of England The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

(architectural editor Sir Charles Peers).

Career

In 1912 Clapham joined the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) where he was successively Editor, Secretary, and Commissioner. In 1921 he published a major survey in the ''Antiquaries Journal'' on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem – the result of his military service in Egypt and Palestine with the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot a ...

during the First World War. His principal work was with the Royal Commission, being a significant contributor to the reports on Essex, Buckinghamshire, Huntingdonshire, Middlesex, London, Hertfordshire, Westmorland, and Oxford. His major achievement was a two-volume work on ''Romanesque Architecture in England'' in 1930 and 1934, and subsequently on ''Romanesque Architecture in Western Europe'' in 1936. He was a faithful adherent of the Society of Antiquaries, being first Secretary and then its president and later the gold medallist. Although he had never been to university, in 1935 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. Clapham wrote three guide books for the Ministry of Works, all of which were published posthumously. These were on the Augustinian Abbey at Thornton in Humberside (1951); the Benedictine Abbey at Whitby (1952); St Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury (1955). He was an effective chairman of the societies, being President of the

Royal Archaeological Institute The Royal Archaeological Institute (RAI) is a learned society, established in 1844, with interests in all aspects of the archaeological, architectural and landscape history of the British Isles. Membership is open to all with an interest in these ...

, Chairman of the London University Institute of Archaeology, and essentially the founder of the

Council for British Archaeology The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is an educational charity established in 1944 in the UK. It works to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment for the benefit of present and futu ...

. He was awarded the OBE in 1923 the CBE in 1932 and knighted in 1944. Clapham died, on 26 October 1950, unmarried, at Clova Nursing Home in Ripon, Yorkshire. Photographs by Sir Alfred William Clapham are held at the Conway Library in the Courtauld, London, and are being digitised.

References

*''The Antiquaries Journal'', volume 13, October 1950 * *

Selected publications

* 1883 births 1950 deaths Fellows of the British Academy Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London Place of birth missing Place of death missing Academics of the UCL Institute of Archaeology People educated at Dulwich College Contributors to the Victoria County History People of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Presidents of the Royal Archaeological Institute {{UK-historian-stub