Things you didn't know about... Clapham

There's only one Clapham—oh, hang on
Clapham, or Clopeham as the Saxons called it, meaning "a settlement by a hill", was gifted to one Jonas by King Edgar in 965. Jonas's great-great-grandson Arthur foolishly contrived to be on the wrong side when William the Conqueror—er—conquered, and he fled to the North Yorkshire Dales. You'll find a picturesque village there called—Clapham.

The money poured into Clapham
From the 17th to the 19th centuries wealthy merchants and traders from the City built elegant villas in Clapham, drawn by its bucolic feel and central location. One City refugee was famous diarist Samuel Pepys who spent his last two years here cared for by his friend and former servant, William Hewer, before passing away in 1703.

The joy of sects in Clapham
In the late 18th and early 19th century a group of upper-class social reformers lived in the area and called themselves the Clapham Sect. They campaigned against child labour and for penal reform—one member of the Clapham Sect was William Wilberforce, who would later become synonymous with the abolition of slavery.

Fanfare for the common man in Clapham
In a libel case in 1903 the phrase "the man on the Clapham omnibus" was used in summing up to mean what the ordinary man might think. It is still used in English law in negligence cases to describe the standard of care that ought to be exercised by the ordinary person—the man on the Clapham omnibus.

Right to Rome in Clapham
The Roman invasion of Britain that commenced in 43 BC left its mark on Clapham. The route that comprises Clapham Road, Clapham High Street and Kennington Park Road (collectively once called Stane Street) was built by the Romans to connect London and Colchester.

Up the junction—but not in Clapham
With more than 2,000 trains passing through every day, Clapham Junction is Europe's busiest rail station. Despite its name, though, the station is not quite in Clapham—technically, it's in neighbouring Battersea.

Football's coming home to Clapham
Yes, the mighty Clapham Rovers won the FA Cup—in 1880. The team, who played variously on Clapham Common, Tooting Bec Common and Wandsworth Common, beat Oxford University 1-0 at the Kennington Oval. The cup hero was the impressively named Clopton Lloyd-Jones.

Clapham was a DIY housing project
Some 230 acres in Clapham were leased by master builder Thomas Cubitt in the latter half of the 19th century. He laid out roads and plots of land to sell on to owners who would build their own villas. He named the development Clapham Park (Cubitt also built Belgravia for Lord Grosvenor).