Scadbury Park is a Local Nature Reserve in

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater ...

in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is a London Borough, borough in London, England. It is the largest and southeasternmost borough in London, and borders the county of Kent, of which it formed part until 1965. The borough's population in the 2021 ...

. It is also a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. It is over , and is part of an extensive

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, also known as a habitat corridor, or green corridor, is a designated area habitat (ecology), that connects wildlife populations that have been separated by human activities or structures, such as development, roads, or land ...

together with Petts Wood and the Jubilee Country Park. It has large areas of

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...

, especially oaks, and flowers include

lily of the valley Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' ), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...

, which is rare in London. Ponds have London's largest population of protected great crested newts. Much of it is undisturbed grassland, and it also includes a working farm. The main entrance is in Old Perry Street. The entrance piers still exist. Also a West Lodge to the estate still exists, also on Old Perry Street. The

London Loop The London Outer Orbital Path—more usually the "London LOOP"—is a 150-mile (242 km) signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as "the M25 for walke ...

passes through it from Sidcup By-Pass Road near its junction with Perry Street to St Paul's Cray Road.

History

The manor is first recorded in the thirteenth century, when it was held by the ''de Scathebury'' family. In 1424 it was purchased by Thomas Walsingham, a wealthy wine and cloth merchant in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

who served as a Member of Parliament in 1410 and 1413.Woodger, L.S.,
Walsingham, Thomas (d.1457), of London
', published in

History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in ...

: the House of Commons 1386–1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe. 1993 The manor was the seat of his descendants until about 1655. These included

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...

's patron, Sir Thomas Walsingham; in fact Marlowe is known to have been staying at Scadbury Manor just before his violent death in 1593. Queen Elizabeth I's spymaster,

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her " spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wa ...

, was born there. In 1736 Col. John Selwyn purchased the property and owned it until 1742 when he passed it on to

Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (24 February 1733 – 30 June 1800) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1783 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Sydney. He held several important Cabinet posts in ...

, after whom the city of

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

was named. The manor was purchased by the London Borough of Bromley in 1983 and opened to the public in 1985.

References

{{Coord, 51.413, 0.094, type:landmark_region:GB-BRY, display=title Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Bromley Local nature reserves in Greater London Nature reserves in the London Borough of Bromley Chislehurst