Clapham Manor Street: the history, the old baths and where to drink

Clapham Manor Street runs through SW4 between the High Street and the Old Town, and it packs a lot in: an 1820s layout, a swimming baths with a 1930s story, one of the area’s serious Italian restaurants and a proper craft beer pub. Here is the short version, then the detail.

• Eat: Sorella, 148 Clapham Manor Street, SW4 6BX. Italian, from Robin Gill’s team.
• Drink: the Clapham Tap, 128 Clapham Manor Street, SW4 6ED. Craft beer, real ale and a garden.
• Swim: Clapham Leisure Centre, 141 Clapham Manor Street, SW4 6DB, on the corner of Voltaire Road.

A short history of the street

According to Layers of London, Clapham Manor Street was laid out in the 1820s to link the site of the old village with new developments to the south. The street itself was built up between 1837 and 1855 by local builders working for Thomas Cubitt, with villas and terraces. An estate agent’s history of the street adds that Cubitt took a lease on the middle parcel of land in 1828 from the Bowyer family, then lords of the manor in Clapham.

The street sits in the Rectory Grove conservation area, roughly equidistant from the High Street and the Old Town, and the same account describes it as remarkably intact. Look for Bicycle Mews, a turning named after the Claude Butler Cycle Works. Layers of London also notes that a similar turning here was called Balzac Street in the 1890s.

For stations, Clapham High Street (Overground) is closest, with Clapham Common and Clapham North (Tube) both a short walk away.

The old baths

The big building at number 141 started life as Clapham Baths. The Historic England Archive records that the foundation stone was laid in September 1930 by Thomas John Cox, Mayor of Wandsworth from 1929 to 1930. The building was formally opened in July 1932.

It was a proper public bathhouse. Alongside the swimming pool there were first and second class slipper baths for men and women, plus a laundry. Historic England’s caption says the building was demolished around 2010 and a new leisure centre built on the site. Layers of London dates its replacement, Clapham Leisure Centre, to 2012.

The leisure centre is still the street’s swimming spot. Lambeth lists opening hours of 6am to 10pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday, with bank holidays 8am to 8pm. Facilities include a pool, gym and fitness studio, plus basketball and badminton. Check the current swim timetable and prices before you go.

Where to eat: Sorella

Sorella, 148 Clapham Manor Street, SW4 6BX, is the Old Town end of the street and the one to book for a proper dinner. It is Italian, from the team behind The Dairy, and Great British Chefs describes it as pairing the dishes of the Amalfi Coast with Robin Gill’s distinctive style of cooking. Gill is chef-patron, working with Dean Parker. OpenTable puts it in its top price band, so treat it as a special-occasion table rather than a midweek bite.

Diners on Tripadvisor single out the lamb rump with cabbage and the truffle arancini. The building was previously The Manor, the same team’s bistro, which Hot Dinners reported opening in November 2014 and which Time Out now lists as closed, replaced by Sorella.

Book ahead, and check the restaurant’s current opening days and times when you do. Lunch and dinner service have both been listed, with Monday a closed day on at least one listing.

Where to drink: the Clapham Tap

The Clapham Tap, 128 Clapham Manor Street, SW4 6ED, is a craft beer pub with a garden and a long run of handpumps, plus ciders and wine. CAMRA lists it as opening in August 2017 in the former Craft Beer Co premises. Before that, the building was the Manor Arms, which was also 128 Manor Street, and a beer seller was recorded at the address in the 1861 census.

London CAMRA gives hours of 4pm to 11pm Monday to Thursday, 4pm to midnight on Friday, noon to midnight on Saturday and noon to 11pm on Sunday. It is a quick walk from the High Street, so it works as an easy first or last stop on a night around the Old Town.

How to do the street

Start at the leisure centre end for a swim or a look at the building, wander towards the Old Town reading the Victorian terraces, and finish with a table at Sorella or a pint at the Clapham Tap. It is a ten-minute walk at most, which leaves plenty of time for the second pint.