The rural village of Lee is situate six miles south of London, on the
south side of Blackheath, and on the road to Maidstone. It is a place
of considerable antiquity; and was originally written _Legheart_, and
in old Latin, _Laga_, i.e. a place which lies sheltered. "The manor
was held of Edward the Confessor by Alwin. William the Conqueror gave
it to his half-brother, Odo, bishop of Baieux, and Earl of Kent, of
whom it was held by Walter de Donay." In the time of the Confessor, it
was valued at 3_l._ and in Domesday at 100_s_. Its extent is somewhat
more than 1,000 acres. Hasted enumerates the successive lords, among
whom were Lord Rivers, who was beheaded at Banbury in 1649; and his
son, Anthony, Earl Rivers, who was beheaded at Pomfret, in 1483. The
manor was purchased by Sir Francis Baring, bart., in 1798.
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[Illustration: _Lee Church and Parsonage._]
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The picturesque vignette includes the church and parsonage. The Church
is in what is called the pointed style, or rather in humble imitation
of antiquity, for it is a recent structure built on the site of the
walls of the old church, but with the addition of side-aisles. Nearly
two centuries before the erection of the present church, the villagers
reported the old building to be in a state too ruinous to admit of
repair: how long did its stability gainsay their judgment, while they
were laid asleep about the walls. The church was an appendage to the
manor till the time of Charles I., who granted away the fee of the
manor, but reserved the patronage of the church to the crown, where it
continues to this time. It was valued l5 Edward I. at 10 marks; in
the king's books it is at 3_l._ 11s. 8d.; and the yearly tenths at 7s.
2_d_. The parsonage has much of the snug character of the glebe-house;
it was rebuilt in 1636, by the rector, the Rev. Abraham Sherman.
In the church are some monumental _brasses_ and a handsome tomb of
marble and alabaster. One of the former is to the memory of Nicholas
Ansley, or Annesley, Esq. who died in 1593; with the following
inscription:--
When the Quene Elizabeth full five years had rain'd,
Then Nicholas Ansley, whos corps lyes here interred,
At fyve and twenty yeres of age was entertayned
Into her servis, where well himself he caried
In eche man's love till fifty and eight yeres ould,
Being Sergant of the Seller, death him contrould.
Above is an upright figure (on a brass plate,) of the deceased, in
armour, kneeling at a desk. The latter monument is to Brian Annesley,
Esq. (son of Nicholas) gentleman pensioner to Queen Elizabeth. It
consists of an elliptic arch supported by Corinthian columns, and
ornamented with a Mosaic pattern studded with roses. Beneath lie the
effigies of Annesley, in armour, and his wife, in a gown and ruff;
their son, and three daughters.
In the churchyard, among the tombs, is that of Dr. Halley, who
succeeded Flamstead as Astronomer Royal at Greenwich, where he died
in 1741-2: Halley published a treatise on Comets, when he was nineteen
years old; and first applied the barometer to measure heights. Here
also lie William Pate, whom Swift, in his Letters, calls the learned
woollen-draper: Sir Samuel Fludyer, bart., the courtly lord mayor;
Parsons, the comedian, with this quaint epitaph:--
Here Parsons lies, oft on life's busy stage
With nature, reader, hast thou seen him vie;
He science knew, knew manners, knew the age,
Respected knew to live, lamented die.
Bliss, the Astronomer Royal, who died in 1762, is also buried here;
Charnock, the author of _Biographia Navalis_, a _Life of Nelson_,
&c.; the amiable Lord Dacre, who died in 1794; and Mary, his relict,
1808.[5]
[5] Lady Dacre visited her dear lord's tomb daily for several
years; at the foot of the grave she was accustomed to kneel,
and utter a fervent prayer. We can just remember seeing this
devout lady on one of these pilgrimages. She usually rode
from her mansion in the neighbourhood to the churchyard, on a
favourite poney, and wore a large, flapping, drab beaver hat,
and a woollen habit, nearly trailing on the ground. At home
she evinced an eccentric affection for her deceased lord: his
chair was placed, as during his lifetime, at the dinner-table;
and its vacancy seemed to feed his lady's melancholy.
Harris says that Samuel Purchas resided at Lee, and there wrote a
great part of his collection of travels, or "Celebrated Pilgrimages
and Relations of the World."
Among the grateful recollection of Lee we must not omit the
alms-house, chapel, and school-house founded by C. Boone, Esq. in
1638.
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