Clapham Park 4

Clapham Park is an area in the Borough of Lambeth in London, to the south of central Clapham and west of Brixton.HistoryThe original Clapham Park Estate was a speculative development by Thomas Cubitt, who bought 229acre of Bleak Hall Farm in 1825, and marked out plots for building around the new, broad, tree-lined streets of Kings Avenue, Clarence Avenue, Poynders Road and Atkins Road. The estate was planned to consist of large detached houses in Cubitt's characteristic Italianate villa style, with each house set in extensive grounds. However, Cubitt's ambitions were never fulfilled, and some plots remained undeveloped at the outbreak of World War I. Cubitt's own residence, Lincoln House, was demolished in 1905, and Rodenhurst Road, a street of large, double-fronted, semi-detached Edwardian houses, was laid out on the site. British statesman Arthur Henderson once lived at number 13 and there is a Blue Plaque on the house indicating this. With the adoption of Poynders Road as the arterial "South Circular" road, this area is now severed from the area further south by traffic, and the streets south of Poynders Road are not generally referred to as being part of Clapham Park.Clapham Park West EstateFollowing World War II, Oaklands House, Oakfield House, Clarence House, and their associated grounds underwent much development as this area was significantly bombed. The area immediately to the east of the Estate had been developed by the London County Council (LCC) in the 1920s as council housing, mostly in characteristic blocks of neo-Georgian brick flats. After World War II most of the Cubitt houses were demolished and the northern part of the original area was redeveloped by the LCC in a very different Modern Movement style. On completion of the scheme the Clapham Park Estate became the largest single council estate within the London Borough of Lambeth.