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,
Ralph Freman (1666–1742) election. Freman commissioned the building of Hamels mansion in Braughing, Hertfordshire in 1713. He died on 8 June 1742, aged 76 leaving three sons. Ralph Freman (1666–1742) Ralph Freman (1666–1742), of Aspenden Hall and Hamels, Hertfordshire, was an English politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons for 30 years from 1697 to 1727. Freman was the eldest son of Ralph Freman, MP of Aspenden and his wife Elizabeth Aubrey (died 1720), daughter of Sir John Aubrey, 1st Baronet of Llantrithyd, Glamorgan. He was educated privately under the pious James Bonnell and Daniel Duckfield, and travelled abroad