Clapham cum Newby
Clapham cum Newby is a small civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, made up of the villages of Clapham and Newby. It had 659 people in 2001 and 640 in 2011.
Historically, the parish was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire in Settle Rural District until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it belonged to Craven district, and it is now governed by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.
The parish has about 50 listed buildings. The oldest is the base of a standing cross outside the Manor House, dating to the time of King John (around 1199–1216) when Clapham was given a market charter. In 1897 a new shaft and cross were added to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.
The village church dates from the 15th century and was rebuilt in the 19th century, leaving the original tower. The Manor House has medieval origins, with the present building from 1701 when it was a private residence. A bridge across the river was built in the late 18th century to reach the church and is now a community centre.
In 2016 residents raised £250,000 to install a private broadband connection to BT’s network, so everyone in the parish can access faster internet after the government said extending superfast broadband would be too expensive.
On 29 January 1962, Alan Whicker reported from Clapham cum Newby, noted as Britain’s first place to have electric street lighting. Lights arrived by 1896 via a water-turbine-powered generator, but the lights later went out. A BBC archive clip about this story is available online.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 04:39 (CET).