On 4th October 2025 Paul Wright took us on an interesting, amusing and informative tour of the old St Margaret’s graveyard at the top of Belmont Hill. For many years the graveyard was locked as it was unsafe but with the building development next door Lewisham Council were able to secure funding to begin restoration.
Paul told us about the Churches on the site and how in Georgian times this was a place of retirement for City merchants and those who worked in the shipyards of Deptford and Greenwich.
We heard about people some of whom we had heard of and others who were new to us. We saw the unassuming grave of Edmond Halley, the Astronomer Royal who is buried there and heard about the tensions between Halley and Flamsteed another Astronomer Royal. We also saw the Fludyer tomb and the remnants of the Dacre tomb. Lord Dacre was the husband of Sir Thomas Fludyer’s daughter Mary, and the tombs are next to each other. Lady Dacre reportedly prayed at her husband’s tomb every evening until a highwayman robbed her of her watch and chain on one of her visits.
The graveyard also has a grave for the first parachute accident death. Robert Cockings died in 1837 after developing a new cone-shaped parachute which he believed would transform air travel. He died during a local public demonstration and ended up with a grave at St Margaret’s Old Churchyard.
It was a fascinating visit where Paul managed to bring the stories of the deceased to life for us.
“Fascinating graveyard talk this morning … so interesting.”
“Really interesting, amusing and informative.”