The Prince Imperial, known as Louis, was the son of
Napoleon III (nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte) and his wife
Eugenie who were exiled in Britain and lived at Camden
Place. Louis was killed in Southern Africa fighting for
the British against the Zulus in 1879 at the age of 23.
His body was returned to England and a hundred thousand
people attended his funeral procession in Chislehurst.
Although he was originally buried in a specially built
addition to St Mary's church, his body was later removed
to Farnborough in Hampshire.
Willett was a successful builder who lived in Chislehurst and championed the idea of putting the clocks forward in summer to make better use of long daylight hours and save fuel for lighting and heating. By the time the concept was implemented in 1916, initially as an emergency wartime measure, Willett had already died. He is celebrated by a sundial in Petts Wood woods (above), by a street in Petts Wood village and by the Daylight Inn near Petts Wood station.
Chislehurst High Street is served by many bus routes from many places including Orpington.
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