Barn Elms replaced the earlier one occupied by Sir Francis Walsingham, "Elizabeth's Spymaster". Queen Elizabeth I would visit Barn Elms to see her Spymaster. Barn Elms features in English literary history from the time the royalist poet Abraham Cowley moved to the house belonging to John Cartwright in 1663. In the 1660s Barn Elms became a fashionable destination for boating picnics. Samuel Pepys, who arranged many a Sunday afternoon or moonlit evening boating party to Barn Elms himself, recorded that on 26 May 1667: "I walked the length of the Elmes, and with great pleasure saw some gallant ladies and people come
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,