Monument Of Ann Lucas, Lee Old Churchyard

779/15/10049 LEE TERRACE 01-JUN-07 LEE Monument of Ann Lucas, Lee Old Churchyard

GV II

Chest tomb. c1756 to Ann Lucas (d1756), wife of London merchant Thomas Lucas, and their daughter Anna Maria Lucas. A chest tomb, surmounted by a ledger slab with an armorial roundel. The heraldic setting is flamboyant.

HISTORY: Lee old churchyard contains many notable monuments which reflect the area's Georgian past as a place of retirement for City merchants and those involved with Greenwich and the Deptford shipyards. In the centre of the churchyard stand the remains of the tower belonging to the former medieval Church of St Margaret (listed Grade II). The current Church of St Margaret stands to the south side of Lee Terrace (1839-41, listed Grade II*). The churchyard of the current church contains later tombs, being used principally between the 1840s and 1870s. A decline in usage came with the opening of Hither Green Cemetery, Lee in 1873. This chest tomb was erected c1756 to Ann Lucas (d1756), wife of Thomas Lucas, a London merchant. She died in childbirth, and the tomb includes the remains of their baby daughter Anna Maria Lucas who died at 6 days old.

SOURCES E and J Birchenough, Monumental Inscriptions in the Old Churchyard, St Margaret's, Lee (1967 typescript in Manor House Library) C P Gwilt (1830), F Bamping (2001) et al, Lee - Kent Archaeological Society website.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: The tomb of Ann Lucas (d1756), wife of London merchant Thomas Lucas, and their daughter Anna Maria Lucas, Lee old churchyard, Lewisham, is a chest tomb surmounted by a ledger slab, the inscription describing the fact that Ann Lucas died in child birth, and her daughter shortly afterwards. The tomb meets the criteria for listing of commemorative monuments as a mid C18 chest tomb with an attractive armorial roundel with a flamboyant heraldic setting.