Clapham: The idyllic Yorkshire village close to Ingleborough with a long and turbulent history

Clapham, however, has likely had inhabitants for many more years than most.

Most historical accounts of Clapham, which sits underneath Ingleborough (the second highest mountain of The Yorkshire Three Peaks) suggest that the area, some six miles past Settle, was home to someone as far back as 14,000 years ago.

They would have inhabited the local caves which are a significant part of the geological history of Clapham but also outdoor pursuits and leisure enjoyed today.

It is also said that they would have been used for burials for maybe 6,000 years. In terms of researching Clapham, I struggled to find any more details about cave burials so would be interested to hear if anyone has more knowledge on that.

Given its location in the Yorkshire Dales, and indeed Yorkshire border, there are lots of references in Clapham’s early history that are connected with Lancaster and Lancashire.

For example, other than a few finds here and there, the Romans didn’t settle here as much as they did elsewhere in Yorkshire but there are Roman roads not too far away and a route from Ribchester over the Forest of Bowland passes just outside the Clapham parish boundary at Bowland Knotts and the remains of what is believed to be a Romano-British settlement have been found close to the footpath from Clapham to Austwick.

There is evidence of Anglo-Saxon small holdings at Clapham Bottoms and the name Clapham, as well as Newby and Austwick, which are nearby, have linguistic connections to the Anglo-Saxon period which followed that of the Romans.

Most certainly, there was more of a sense of a community by the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066. A church had been built there by then and records show a priest living or working in Clapham in 1160.

King John granted Clapham’s market charter in 1201, but in 1319, a lot of what had been developed in Clapham was destroyed by marauding Scots, there was religious rebellion and a Civil War to content with over the next 300 years.

Life seemed to settle down after that and from an account on a very detailed and informative local website ‘Clapham Yorkshire’ so as not to, although would be hard to confuse with its namesake in south London, life in Clapham (Yorkshire at least) was dominated by farmers, small independent landowners and a land and lord system.

From here though, Clapham became an estate village when one of those farmers, Richard Farrer, had a grandson who became an attorney.

He bought Yew Tree Cottage in the village and his descendants – wealthy London lawyers – started buying properties from farmers in financial hardship.

The Farrers became Lord of the Manor of Austwick in 1782, then in 1810 Lord of the Manor of Newby and in 1856 Lord of the Manor of Clapham as well.

By this time the family owned virtually every farm in the area and all but one of the houses in Clapham.

Yew Tree Cottage was extended and became Clapham Lodge, and some years later after further extensions it was Ingleborough Hall.

After the Second World War financial hardship had struck the wealthy and Ingleborough Hall was sold to what was then the West Riding County Council and Clapham’s time as an estate village came to an end as residents were given opportunity to buy the houses they lived in.

Those that did will be glad. You won’t get change from £320,000 for the cheapest house in Clapham that is up for sale. At the other end of Rightmove, is a farm for £2.7m.

There is now a campaign to save Ingleborough Hall which is now an activity centre that has been enjoyed by hundreds and thousands of school children over the years.

In January, Bradford Council announced cuts to stave off bankruptcy, including closing three tips, cutting libraries and leisure centres and hiking fees and council tax.

It wants to borrow from the government a total of £80m for the last financial year, as well as £140m for 2024/25, to plug a growing black hole in its budget.

The grade II listed Ingleborough Hall, which hosts trips from 80 schools and 4,000 pupils a year, also faces the axe but a petition has gathered more than 2000 signatures.

This itself demonstrates a community cohesion and spirit in Clapham. The local newsletter is as comprehensive and thorough as any I have seen and clearly takes someone a lot of well spent time and energy to put together.

There are adverts from an array of local businesses such as for logs, septic tanks and a chimney sweep (well we are in the countryside) and a hair-dresser, book-keeper and funeral director.

Club details from bowls to brownies and art as well as a sustainability group are published.

My favourite snippet from the April one is the rainfall chart. For February 2023 there were 1.9cms of the wet stuff, this year more than 20cms.

The village shop, run by the community is the hub, there is a church, cafe, holiday accommodation and various organisations promoting The Dales.

And an emergency service of its own type, The Cave Rescue Organisation, operated thanks to a strong team of 80 volunteers, has its base in Clapham and very much needed given the popularity of caving and walking in these parts.

For last year they had 89 call outs including 67 ‘mountain’ incidents, four cave, ten animals incidents, eight local incidents and 13 alerts for overdue walkers or cavers.