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,
Esquire of the Body Esquire. Eventually the position in the English royal household became more formal and did not necessarily involve dressing and undressing the monarch. The function clearly needed to change in the case of a female monarch, for example the poet and dramatist John Lyly was appointed an honorary Esquire of the Body in the late 1580s to Queen Elizabeth I in recognition of his services to her as an entertainer. Ladies-in-waiting performed the intimate tasks for the Queen which the Esquires had done for her father. The position of Esquire of the Body also existed in some other courts, such as