Time Walk
A Square Built Around a Clock
A famous historian grew up on this small Clapham square, above a fire station that later became a house. A clock tower still marks the spot, where The Pavement meets Clapham Common South Side, and the Underground station's domed entrance stands on the same corner.
Beneath the shopfronts lies a longer civic history: a parish lock-up, a Victorian fire brigade, and the house where two of Clapham's best-known residents once lived. That past is easier to find once you know what the name itself does not explain.
Name Origin
A Name Without a Record
The Pavement takes its name from the paved area that gave the small square its identity. None of the sources consulted here explain exactly when or why that name was formally adopted.
What the record does show is the square functioning, from at least the 1860s, as a civic hub.
History
From Lock-Up to Lodge
A fire station went up at 33 The Lodge in 1868, on parish land that had earlier held Clapham's lock-up. The site had already been leased to the Metropolitan Board of Works the previous year, for a new station designed by Edward Cresy.
That station proved too small. In 1902 a larger fire station replaced it on a site to the north. The old building at 33 The Lodge then changed purpose entirely: from 1912 it served as the Common Keeper's residence for Clapham Common.
A clock tower was added to The Pavement in 1906, a gift to the parish from Alexander Glegg, Mayor of Wandsworth, and inaugurated by the Lord Mayor of London.
The 1906 clock tower on The Pavement had to be taken down and rebuilt once a new Underground booking hall was constructed directly beneath it.
People
A Historian's Childhood Home
Zachary Macaulay (1768–1838) lived at No. 5 The Pavement. He was a philanthropist and committed campaigner against slavery.
His son, Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859), grew up in the same house and became a historian and man of letters. A blue plaque at No. 5 now marks the house as the home of both father and son.
Recent Times
From Lodge to Private House
33 The Lodge was sold in 2004 and became a private house. The Clapham Society marked its history with a green plaque in 2013.
On the Map
The Pavement Then & Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called The Pavement?
The sources consulted here do not explain the origin of the name. It likely refers simply to the paved area of this small Clapham square.
What is The Pavement known for?
It was home to philanthropist Zachary Macaulay and his son, historian Thomas Babington Macaulay, and it holds a clock tower given to the parish in 1906 near Clapham Common Underground station.
What happened to the old fire station on The Pavement?
The 1868 fire station at 33 The Lodge was replaced by a larger station in 1902, then became the Common Keeper's residence for Clapham Common from 1912 until it was sold as a private house in 2004.