Before we look at how the area of Gloucester got the name Clapham, let’s remind ourselves of the street names.
Street Names: Local Public Houses:
1. Oxford Street. The White Lion.
2. Alvin Street. The Magnet Inn.
3. Worcester Parade. The Anchor Inn.
4. Columbia Street. The Suffolk Inn.
5. Swan Road. The Pheasant Inn.
7. Union Street. The Rose and Crown.
8. Suffolk Street. The Duke of York.
9. Sherbourne Street. The Suffolk Arms.
10. Sweetbriar Street. The Fortune of War.
11. Guinea Street. The Kingsholm Inn.
12. Council Street. The Red Lion.
13. Worrel Street.
Not forgetting part of Worcester Street.
How Clapham got its name.
Some time ago a question was asked in the local paper as the where the name Clapham
in Gloucester came from. There were a number of answers, but none of them touched
anywhere near the truth. It actually comes from two old English words. The first one is
Cloppa meaning a Hillock or small hill. The other is an Anglo-Saxon for Hamm which
means a village, estate or home. Put these two words together and you come up with
Cloppa Hamm which over a period of time evolved in to Clapham.
It was on the East side of Mean Ham which is North of The Island and South West of
Wotton Pitch, Gloucester and covered a fairly large area of that side of the city.
The Hillock would have, and still is, Wotton Pitch.
Researched by John of the Old Gloucester Web site.