St Margaret's, Lee of the restoration, the church is one of the best preserved examples of a decorated gothic revivalist interior in London. Between 1813-1830 there had been an attempt to rebuild the medieval church, involving the architect Joseph Gwilt. This failed when it became clear that the foundations of the old church were incapable of supporting a new building. The ruins of the original building are in the medieval churchyard on the north side of Lee Terrace. The tomb of Edmond Halley (1656–1742), from 1720 England's second Astronomer Royal and the discoverer of the periodicity of Halley's Comet is in the churchyard,
James Breen (astronomer) the "Astronomische Nachrichten" and "Monthly Notices." He calculated the orbit of the ξ double star Ursæ Majoris, assigning it a period of 63.14 years, as well as those of Petersen's third (1850) and Brorsen's (1851, iii.) comets. His observations of Comet Donati with the Northumberland Equatorial were printed in the 'Memoirs of the R. A. Soc.' xxx. 68. James Breen (astronomer) James Breen (5 July 1826 – 25 August 1866) was an Irish astronomer. Breen was the second son of Hugh Breen, senior, who superintended the lunar reductions at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. He was born at Armagh, in Ireland,