St Margaret's Churchyard

In Old English 'Leah' means 'the clearing in the wood'; Lee was a separate parish, much smaller than its neighbour Lewisham, the two amalgamating in 1899. In 1086 the hamlet had about 70 inhabitants and lay along Lee High Road, with a side road (Brandram Road) leading to the parish church. Lee Green was a separate hamlet around the Tiger's Head public house where horses were changed and several large mansions were built, of the two that remain today. One is Manor House, now Lee Library and the grounds a public park, Manor House Gardens (q.v.). South of Lee Green was agricultural land, and in addition to farms there were plant nurseries in Lee, and watercress was grown along the banks of the River Quaggy. The area remained rural until the 1830s when speculative building began. The high street used to run through the village, its route now that of Old Road, but it was straightened in 1825 to form Lee High Road, which now bisects area.

The first reference to the church at Lee occurs in c.1120, and it may have been dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch in the reign of Edward the Confessor. The tower that remains dates from the early church of c.1275. During the C18th the church building appears to have deteriorated and by the early C19th a new church on the site was proposed. This was built in 1813/4 by the architect Joseph Gwilt who unfortunately used the old foundations, as a consequence of which the new building was never stable. By 1837 it was decided the church had to be replaced and a plot of land across the road was acquired from Thomas Brandram (1777-1855), who had been a church warden when Gwilt's church was built and had jointly laid the foundation stone to that church. A JP, Brandram lived at The Cedars nearby; he not only gave the land for the new church at an advantageous price but donated £500 towards the costs. The architect selected for the new church was John Brown of Norwich and it was built in 1839-41. The foundation stone was jointly laid by Thomas Postans (1780-1845), church warden in 1836-43, who lived at Lee Manor and Sir Thomas Baring, and it was consecrated by the Bishop of Rochester in 1841. It was remodelled in 1875-1900 by James Brooks, with much gothic revival embellishment. It has a west tower with octagonal top stage and spire and contains C16th brasses from the old church, including those of Elizabeth Conhill (d.1513), and N Ansley (d.1593) and his wife. . The architect selected was John Brown of Norwich and the new building was built in 1839-41 and consecrated by the Bishop of Rochester in 1841. It was remodelled in 1875-1900 by James Brooks, with much gothic revival embellishment. It has a west tower with octagonal top stage and spire and contains C16th brasses from the old church, including those of Elizabeth Conhill (d.1513) and N Ansley (d.1593) and his wife.

Among the fine tombs in the new churchyard are Thomas Brandram's granite-topped box tomb and Thomas Postans' monument. Others notable burials include William Webster (1820-88), a prominent building contractor responsible for important projects such as the Thames Embankment and numerous sewage works including the Southern Outfall, Crossness, Abbey Mills and Western pumping station; he was also part of the local group who founded The Blackheath Conservatoire of Music in 1881. Others include John Penn (1805-78), president of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers whose family firm in Greenwich employed 2000 people; William Rea (1773-1861), responsible for building many of the houses on the east side of Lee Park that remain today. George Lock, who was Rector for 61 years including when the new church was built, is commemorated by a memorial cross on the lawn in front of the church. At the east end of the church is a Celtic limestone cross commemorating Rev Frederick Law (1826-1907), Rector from 1873 - 1900, and his first wife Lady Adelaide Law, who paid for the church extension and decoration of the interior. Lady Adelaide is also commemorated in the lych gate now located at Church Terrace. Erected in 1882, this originally stood at the corner of Brandram Road and Lee Terrace but was moved in 1957 to its present location for concerns about road safety. The church once had fine railings similar to those around Bruges Cathedral, which had been paid for by Rector Frederick Law, who was a great admirer of the medieval architecture of Bruges. However, during WWII the railings were removed for scrap metal. Hither Green Cemetery opened in 1873, though further interments in existing graves continued for some time. The churchyard is now closed for burials and its upkeep is the responsibility of the London Borough of Lewisham.

The church and churchyard suffered bomb damage in 1940 and 1942 and by the mid-1980s the church was in great need of conservation. A significant restoration programme commenced in 1985, completed by 2010. In addition to major conservation work undertaken on the external and internal fabric of the church, its surrounding churchyard and access paths and roads were repaired and upgraded and the churchyard railings reinstated. In the old churchyard the base of the mediaeval church tower was stabilised and restored, and it has been developed as a public community garden and park. A new parish office and visitors centre has also been built in the Rectory garden. .