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Clapton, East London has a remarkable history including stretching back over 500 years to Tudor times and one infamous King Henry VIII. Here in 1500, he once owned a Tudor mansion known as Brooke House. This part of London was once amongst the most affluent areas in the country central to Tudor England and it was here that Henry made an important historical decision with regards to negotiations with Mary the proclaimed ‘Queen of Scots’. 

Over the years the mansion and the land saw changes of ownership and drama in burning down in Georgian times before its gardens were acquired and a horse drawn tram depot was constructed and opened in 1873 creating new prosperity for the area as a commuter route. 

With the demise of London trams, The Clapton Tram Depot was later used as manufacturing factory units serving the needs of the local largely Jewish rag trade and furniture making community. The Second World war then brought The Tram Depot into use as a factory, producing airplane parts for the war effort. Both the Tram Depot and the rebuilt Brooke House received direct hits from the Luftwaffe. 

Brooke House was sadly demolished after the war and rebuilt as a school and college where such local business luminaries as The Apprentice’s Alan Sugar attended. The east end of London evolved from one of the most affluent, bloody and colourful monarchs in our history in Tudor times into a struggling east end urban landscape blighted by poverty and crime. Included in this era were the infamous London gangsters the Kray Twins. From such a bloody history the area grew even worse, once associated with the name of murder mile thanks to drug turf wars. The area was cleared up thanks to the efforts of a brave local lady called Julia Lafferty who campaigned to Westminster for help. The area is seeing re-gentrification with its edginess still prevalent.

It is against this colourful backdrop that husband and wife team Hilary and Terence in 2015 converted a section of the Tram Depot into The Clapton Country Club in order to stage their own wedding. From this romantic reinvention they created a beautiful space and grew this into a business enabling other couples to tie the knot. On the Sundays they set up the Sunday Roast Club with live jazz, determined to bring an aura and glamour back to the area and most importantly with a mission to serve the best Sunday Roast in East London. The reputation grew over three years serving locals and people from afar with Elle Magazine placing us into their top ten Sunday roasts in London. Thousands have come through our doors. See more at www.claptoncountryclub.co.uk

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In 2017 we set up the botanical café /store The Tram Store to great acclaim serving coffees and breakfast/brunch with the addition of uniquely curated wares/gifts on sale. See more at www.tram-store.co.uk

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And now something new amidst a pandemic; The Roast Box has taken all the best ingredients from the Sunday Roast Club including our own secret recipe vegan wellington to our prime rib eye beef all served with heritage potatoes, home-style Yorkshire puddings and delivering straight to your door hot and ready to eat for those in local post codes and with plans to roll out nationwide on a cook at home basis.

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With all our passion for sustainability we have invested in electric trikes and electric vans to get around as much of East and North London as we possibly can to deliver our tasty Roasts Boxes ready to eat.

Henry VIII, who we imagine quite liked his roasts, would surely have given his royal seal of approval.

Roast Box by Clapton Country Club launches February 2021

Enjoy!

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