[citation needed] Clapham's name derives from Old English, meaning 'homestead or enclosure near a hill', with the first recorded usage being Cloppaham circa 880.

It was held by Goisfrid (Geoffrey) de Mandeville, and its domesday assets were three hides, six ploughs, and 5.0 acres (2.0 ha) of meadow.

The benefice remains to this day a rectory, and in the 19th century was in the patronage of the Atkins family: the tithes were commuted for £488 14s.

The church, on the site of the current St Paul's and belonging to Merton Priory was, with the exception of the north aisle which was left standing for the performance of burials, taken down under an act of parliament in 1774.

[6] A new church, Holy Trinity, was erected in the following year at an expense of £11,000 (equivalent to £1,748,234 in 2023), on the north side of the common.

[7] In the late 17th century, large country houses began to be built there, and throughout the 18th and early 19th century it was favoured by the wealthier merchant classes of the City of London, who built many large and gracious houses and villas around Clapham Common and in the Old Town.

Samuel Pepys spent the last two years of his life in Clapham, living with his friend, protected at the Admiralty and former servant William Hewer, until his death in 1703.

Other notable residents of Clapham Common include Palace of Westminster architect Sir Charles Barry,[10] Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg[11] and 20th century novelist Graham Greene.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Clapham Sect were a group of wealthy City merchants (mostly evangelical Anglican) social reformers who lived around the Common.

[14] By contrast, an opponent of Wilberforce, merchant and slave-trader George Hibbert also lived at Clapham Common, worshipping in the same church, Holy Trinity.

Today the area is generally an affluent place, although many of its professional residents live relatively close to significant pockets of social housing.

Translated to the postal system, Clapham fills most of SW4 and as defined, at least since the Norman Conquest until 1885, includes parts of SW8, SW9 and SW12, London.

Clapham Common comprises 220 acres of green space, criss-crossed by footpaths, with three ponds, a Victorian bandstand and a large number of mature trees, including horse chestnuts and a significant avenue of London plane trees along Long Road.

Where regard to historic Clapham parish and some street signs is had, this area includes a detached part: the land bounded by Nightingale Square, Oldridge Road and Balham Hill.

[21] This links Clapham directly to stations including Shepherds Bush, Canada Water, Shoreditch and Highbury and Islington.