High Street
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Historical Notes
Before the arrival of the railway in 1885, Claygate's shopping facilities were much smaller in number and variety than they are today. It is unlikely that Claygate boasted more than six shops prior to the 1880s. The Parade had yet to be built, and there were only three shops around The Green, plus a few others scattered around the old village mainly in the Telegraph Road (now Telegraph Lane) and New Road (now Coverts Road) areas.
We do not know when the first shop opened. But two of the first purpose-built shops, as distinct from cottages and farms that sold produce and goods as a sideline, were probably the Post Office and Singlehurst the butcher, both in the old village. The former was certainly a going concern as early as the 1860s, and for many years was owned and run by the Napper family. In Kelly's Directory of 1874, Edwin Napper is described as a postmaster, grocer, cheesemonger and baker. The Napper family at one time owned quite a lot of property in the locality and were also coal and coke merchants. But it was the arrival of the railway that led to the building of the majority of shops that we have today.
References
- Peebles, Malcolm (1983). The Claygate Book. (Millennium edition). Stockbridge: by BAS Printers Ltd. ISBN 0-9508978-0-9.
- Many thanks also for the photos, many supplied by Terry Gale, from the Claygate Local History Facebook group.
