The quiet country village of Clapham lies just a few miles north of the seaside town of Worthing, nestled snugly in the rolling Downs of West Sussex. Almost the archetypal English village, Clapham consists of a single street (named, appropriately enough, ‘The Street’), a few dozen homes, a post office and a village shop. Its only significant landmark is its 13th-century church, located on a hill to the north of the village, behind which lies Clapham Wood – a stretch of woodland criss-crossed by public footpaths and popular with dog-walkers and ramblers.

Historically, the village would appear to have existed in some form or another since at least Saxon times, although its exact site has probably moved on more than one occasion.