Chislehurst its earlier format corresponded to the letters IMP (for "imperial"). The Chislehurst civil parish formed an urban district of Kent from 1894 to 1934. In 1934 it became part of the Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District, which was split in 1965 between the London boroughs of Bromley and Bexley. The Walsingham family, including Christopher Marlowe's patron, Sir Thomas Walsingham and Queen Elizabeth I's spymaster, Francis Walsingham, had a home in Scadbury Park, now a nature reserve in which the ruins of the house can still be seen. A water tower used to straddle the road from Chislehurst to Bromley until
History of the Puritans under Queen Elizabeth I ties with Puritan leaders, and were themselves partial to Puritan views of theology, politics, and the reformation of the English church and society. They especially wanted to curb the power of the Anglican bishops and root out any influence of the Roman Catholic church, which were fundamental proponents of the Puritans. Such men in Elizabeth's court of advisers included, William Cecil, Chief Adviser to the Queen, Secretary of State, and Lord High Treasurer; Francis Walsingham, the Principal Secretary to the Queen and Spymaster of the English Crown; Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer; and also Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester,