Once a rural retreat from the densely-populated city of London, Clapton has been home to some of history’s biggest characters.
A Nobel-prize winning playwright, a reckless stockbroker who narrowly avoided hanging, singers, entrepreneurs – even King Henry VIII owned a house here! Clapton has a fascinating history.
The area has changed drastically since the 1600s when it was open countryside with grazing cows and a few mansions for the wealthy. At that time, a mansion house ‘Brooke House’ stood where the B6 College is now. It was owned by Henry VIII whose prominent friends lived there – in later life, it was a home for people with mental illness. Bombs heavily damaged Brooke House in World War Two. It was demolished in the 1950s.
The most dramatic changes in Clapton happened from the 1860s onwards when mass housing was built for the middle classes.
Word on the Street has been researching some of Clapton’s most interesting homes and their residents.
