The Cedars was the grandest country house in Lee. The original mansion was called Lee Grove and dated from the early 17th century.

It was altered and enlarged by the Brandram family in the early 19th century, and again by John Penn II after 1856 - he changed the name to The Cedars.

The estate around it was built over after 1911 but the house survived and is now part of a housing develop-ment.

The second photograph, the drawing room, shows the purchasing power available to a succesful industrialist of the later 19th century.

John Penn & Sons manu-factured marine engines at their works in Deptford and Greenwich.