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Lewisham
and Lee
Key:  Current observations and notes   Holmes notes of 1897     Other sources           Maps


Additional notes by Brian Firth


St. Mary's Churchyard.
 


Medieval church, rebuilt 1775-7
Tombs with original railings and railed walks throughout. Many 18th-19th c tombs close around the church and many to the E in situ, with many trees. Some distinctive tombs and an obelisk. To the W, more open and grassed.  Old walls.

2 acres. Laid out as a public garden in 1886, and maintained by the Lewisham District Board of Works. (Holmes)


St. Bartholemew’s Churchyard, Sydenham. 
Built 1827-32
Still very pretty. Has something of everything: kempt grass and tombs; signs of a prosperous past in quality; Venetian Gothic tomb of Charles English; neglected corners, one full of tomb-rubble; trees and lots of white allium.
¾ acre. Closed for interments. This is beautifully kept and is a very pretty ground. The gates are generally open, but there are no seats.
(Holmes)

Burial ground of St Mary’s Monastery, Sydenham Hill.
Lost?

Brockley Cemetery (Deptford Cemetery) Ivy Lane.

17 acres. First used in 1858.  Combined with Ladywell Cemetery  in 1965.
By 1889, 50,000 bodies had been interred there. 
(Holmes)

Ladywell cemetery  (Lewisham Cemetery)
15½ acres, of which . First used 1858.  

Lee Cemetery . (In Hither Green.
I
n Verdant Lane. Now  Hither Green Cemetery, Opened 1873. 

Awaiting visit/update.

10 acres, of which 4 are in reserve. First used 1873. Open daily.
(Holmes)


St John the Baptist churchyard Lee,  Eltham.  

Large ground to N of church stretching into the distance. Many 18thc stones around the church, and a number of tombs. The main section is fairly open and dominated by simple stones and grass.
The old church partially collapsed in 1667 when a burial vault was being dug.  Present church Victorian. 


3 acres. This is in use, but under regulation, and is open daily.
(Holmes)


St. Margaret’s Churchyard, Lee. 
Church and churchyard consecrated 1841, so may not have been in use for long. Many large tombs grouped around the church. 

Awaiting visit/update.

Still in use, open daily, and very neatly kept. It is about 1½ acres in size.
 (Holmes)

The Old Churchyard, Lee.
Locked, but 
picturesque with ruined tower and old tombs among trees.
Burial place of poet John Skelton (d 1529) astronomer Sir Edmund Halley (d.1742) and the engraver Weceslas Hollar (d.1677).
Awaiting visit/update.

 This is opposite St. Margaret's, and contains the ruins of the old church. It is full of tombstones and neatly kept. It is generally open, but has no seats in it.
 (Holmes)


Old Lee Church before demolition


St. Luke’s Churchyard, Charlton 
A leafy little churchyard on the road with wide paved walk, mostly gravestones, up to S door, flanked by monuments and divided by trees. Very individual. An attractive small space with old monuments on a noisy corner. Behind the church is a more open garden of rest with one substantial monument
.


½ acre. This is full of tombstones and closed, but very neatly kept. Burials occasionally take place in existing vaults, but in each case permission has to be obtained from the Home Secretary.
(Holmes)

Photographs by Sophie Marton


St. Thomas’s Churchyard, Charlton. 
Medieval church rebuilt 1630.

In Maryon Rd. A peculiar church and a churchyard  with a mini-cliff on one side. Some stones in situ, an overgrown area and some lawn.
On the borders of Woolwich. Nearly an acre. This churchyard was in use for burials in 1854 when it was put under regulation.
(Holmes)

Morden College Cemetery, Blackheath. 

Awaiting visit/update.

 ¼ acre. Closed. Neatly kept. Contains about 80 tombstones. The college was founded about 1695.
(Holmes)

Charlton Cemetery .

Awaiting visit/update.


8 acres. First used in 1855. Open daily.
(Holmes)

Greenwich Cemetery. 

Awaiting visit/update.

15 acres. Open daily.
(Holmes)

Possible church burials or vaults.

The Ascension, Dartmouth Row Blackheath
Founded as a chapel before 1695. Rebuilt 1834. Became a parish church in 1905

Bethel Independent Chapel, Evelyn St.
Founded? Became St Luke's Church, which was rebuilt - elsewhere? 

St John's, Bromley Rd Southend
Built as a chapel of Ease in 1824. Became a parish hall. 
Click here for a note on church and vault burials.