Clapham is a village situated in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England and was previously in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It lies within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, roughly 6 miles north west of Settle, off the A65.
St. James Church in Clapham was founded in Norman times, and was originally dedicated to St. Michael. It is also in recorded in receords dating back to 1160. Regretfully , it and the rest of the village were burned during a Scottish raid following the Battle of Bannockburn in the early 14th-century. The church tower was thought to have been erected following this incident, but the rest of the church only dates from the 19th-century.
In the 14th century John de Clapham, whose surname derived from the village, was a supporter of the earl of Warwick and lived at Clapdale Castle. His ancestors also fought in the Wars of the Roses, albeit on the side of the House of Lancaster.
Since the 18th century Clapham has been home to the Farrer family who established the Ingleborough estate there. The family owns and maintains much of the land, walls, woods, fields and moors of the village, surrounding countryside and farms.
Electricity has been generated on the Ingleborough estate as far back as 1893. There is still an operational water turbine-powered generator at the top of the village near to the waterfall which was installed in 1948 and originally supplied the church, Ingleborough Hall, Home Farm and 13 street lights. There is another turbine in the sawmill which is also still in use although it is now assisted by an electric motor when the larger saw is in use.
Clapham is located at the base of Ingleborough mountain, one of Yorkshire's famous "Three Peaks" of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-ghent, and is a well known starting point for its climb.
Clapham Beck runs through the village which is fed from Fell Beck starting on the slopes of Ingleborough and sinking into Gaping Gill, England's highest waterfall, where Fell Beck drops 110 metres vertically down a pothole, and exits from Ingleborough Cave into Clapham Beck. The beck then runs into the River Lune via the River Wenning. The beck is crossed by a total of four bridges in the village, two footbridges: Brokken Bridge and Mafeking Bridge, and two road bridges.
Directly above the village is a man-made lake built and expanded in the 19th century, which provided pressure for the water turbines and the drinking water supply, while the outflow fed an artificial waterfall at the top of the village.
Clapham lies just below the Craven fault which is a geological fault marking the division of the sandstone rocks of the Bowland area and the limestone of the Ingleborough area. The presence of the Craven fault means that the soil is acidic not alkaline which is beneficial to the nearby species of rhododendron which tend to suffer in alkaline soils.
The well known modern playwright Alan Bennett has a country cottage in the village and the notable botanist Reginald Farrer was born and lived in Clapham. He collected many new species of rhododendrons, shrubs and alpines in China, Tibet and Upper Burma early in the 20th century which in turn were planted on the Estate by Farrer. In certain places he fired seeds at cliff faces from a shotgun, to try and give a ‘natural’ spread to his rock plants.
Rhododendrons planted by Reginald Farrer can still be seen growing in the woods above the village.
The village contains Clapham CE Primary School, a village hall, one pub, the New Inn, a local shop and post office, and a few businesses, B&Bs and guest houses, including Brookhouse Guest House, located next to Clapham Beck itself.
Being within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the car park is under their ownership with fees going directly to them.
Based in the village is the Cave Rescue Organisation which serves people and animals above and below ground across the wider area of the Dales. They also set up a winch down Gaping Gill together with local caving clubs, on Spring and August bank holidays each year, which are open to the general public.
The village is served by Clapham railway station which is located one mile away.
