Old and New Churchyards of St Margaret of Antioch, Lee
Visited January 2021
There are two churchyards at St Margaret of Antioch, across the road from each other and only 5 minutes walk from the centre of Lewisham.
The remains of the Medieval church and its churchyard, on the north of the road, are smaller and sadly, when I visited, the gate was locked although it does look like it should be open in 'normal times', whatever they may be. As the tomb of Edmund Halley - he the comet is named after - is in there, I'd like to visit some day! There's a wonderful information board by the railings which tells you about this building - indeed there are a number of these boards throughout Lee for historic buildings and once the weather improves I aim to do a history walk around them.
The lower levels of the west tower are all that remains of the church which was originally built in 1080, after the rest was demolished in the early 19th century and a new church built on the site. That church collapsed a few decades later having been built on the unstable foundations of the old church and the current church across the road dates from the early 1840s.
The 'new' church is surrounded by the graveyard, and has a lych gate at the back. It's worth a visit as some of the memorials are quite lovely, although at the current time the church itself is closed to visitors which is a shame.
Old Churchyard (photos taken from the street)
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