View source for Bunhill Fields

{{Short description|Former burial ground in London}}
{{about|the former Nonconformist burial ground|the nearby Quaker burial ground|Quaker Gardens, Islington}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox cemetery
| name = Bunhill Fields Burial Ground
| image = File:Bunhill Fields 2020.jpg
| imagesize = 260
| caption = Monuments in Bunhill Fields
| established = 1665
| location = [[City Road]], [[Islington]], [[London]], [[EC postcode area|EC1Y 2BG]]
| country = [[England]]
| coordinates = {{coord|51|31|25|N|0|05|20|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| type = Public ''(closed)''
| style = Frequently [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]], many social classes represented
| owner = [[City of London Corporation]]
| size = {{convert|1.6|ha|acre|abbr=off}}
| graves = 120,000
| website = [https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/city-gardens/find-a-garden/bunhill-fields-burial-ground Official website]
| embedded = {{Infobox historic site
| embed                = yes
| designation1         = UK Grade I
| designation1_offname = Bunhill Fields Burial Ground
| designation1_date    = 5 May 2010
| designation1_number  = {{National Heritage List for England|num=1001713|short=yes}}
| designation2         = National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
| designation2_offname = Bunhill Fields Burial Ground
| designation2_date    = 5 May 2010
| designation2_number  = {{National Heritage List for England|num=1001713|short=yes}}
}}
}}

'''Bunhill Fields''' is a former burial ground in central London, in the [[London Borough of Islington]], just north of the [[City of London]]. What remains is about {{convert|1.6|ha|acre|abbr=off}} in extent<ref name=CityOfLondon/> and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the [[City of London Corporation]].

It was first in devoted use as a burial ground from 1665 until 1854, in which period approximately 123,000 interments were estimated to have taken place.<ref name="nhle">{{NHLE |num=1001713 |desc=Bunhill Fields Burial Ground |access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref> Over 2,000 monuments remain, for the most part in concentrated blocks. It was a prototype of land-use protected, nondenominational grounds, and was particularly favoured by [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformist]]s who passed their final years in the region. It contains the graves of many notable people, including [[John Bunyan]] (died 1688), author of ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]''; [[Daniel Defoe]] (died 1731), author of ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]''; [[William Blake]] (died 1827), artist, poet, and mystic; [[Susanna Wesley]] (died 1742), known as the "Mother of Methodism" through her education of sons [[John Wesley|John]] and [[Charles Wesley|Charles]]; [[Thomas Bayes]] (died 1761), statistician and philosopher; [[Isaac Watts]] (died 1748), the "Father of English [[Hymn]]ody"; and [[Thomas Newcomen]] (died 1729), steam engine pioneer.

[[File:Bunhill Fields hyperlapse video.webm|thumb|300x300px|A hyperlapse video showing the paths around the cemetery]]
Bunhill Fields Burial Ground is listed Grade I on the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]].<ref name="nhle"/> It is now maintained by the Friends of City Gardens.

Nearby, on the west side of [[Bunhill Row]] and behind the residential tower Braithwaite House, is a former [[Quakers|Quaker]] burial ground, in use from 1661 to 1855, at times also known as Bunhill Fields. [[George Fox]] (died 1691), one of the founders of the movement, is among those buried there. Its remains are also a public garden, [[Quaker Gardens, Islington|Quaker Gardens]], managed by the London Borough of Islington.

==Historical background==
[[File:Map of Bunhill Fields City Road London.jpg|thumb|left|Plan of the present Bunhill Fields public gardens (east at the top). Areas in green are fenced, and contain most of the surviving monuments. Areas in yellow and white have been largely cleared of monuments, and are fully accessible to the public.]]

Bunhill Fields was part of the Manor of [[Finsbury]] (originally Fensbury), which has its origins as the [[prebend]] of Halliwell and Finsbury, belonging to [[Old St Paul's Cathedral|St Paul's Cathedral]] and established in 1104. In 1315 the prebendary manor was granted by Archdeacon [[Robert Baldock]] to the Mayor and Commonalty of London. This enabled more general public access to the semi-[[fen]] or moor stretching from the City of London's boundary ([[London Wall]]), to the village of [[Hoxton]].

In 1498 part of the otherwise unenclosed landscape was set aside to form a large field for military exercises of archers and others. This part of the manor has sports and occasional military use: [[Artillery Ground]].

Next to this lies Bunhill Fields. The name derives from "Bone hill", likely linked to occasional burials from at least [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] times, but more probably derives from the use for mass-deposit for human bones—amounting to over 1,000 cartloads—brought from St Paul's [[charnel house]] in 1549 (when that building was demolished).<ref>Holmes 1896, pp. 133–134.</ref> The dried bones were deposited on the moor and capped with a thin layer of soil. This built up a hill across the otherwise damp, flat fens, such that three windmills could safely be erected in a spot that came to be one of the many windmill hills.

==Opening as a burial ground==
[[File:Mary Page monument 2.JPG|thumb|right|Monument of [[Sir Gregory Page, 1st Baronet|Dame Mary Page]] (died 1729). The inscription reads in part: "In 67 months she was tap'd [tapped] 66 times, Had taken away 240 gallons of water without ever repining at her case or ever fearing the operation."]]
[[File:Monument To Theophilus Gale, South Enclosure.jpg|thumb|right|Monument to Theophilus Gale, South Enclosure.]]

In keeping with this tradition, in 1665 the City of London Corporation decided to use some of the land as a common burial ground for the interment of bodies of inhabitants who had died of the [[Great Plague of London|plague]] and could not be accommodated in the churchyards. Outer walls were completed but Church of England officials never consecrated the ground nor used it for burials. A Mr. Tindal took over the lease.

He allowed extramural graveyard burials in what was unconsecrated soil, thus popular with [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformists]]—those [[Protestantism|Protestant Christians]] who practised their faiths outside the [[Church of England]]; unlike [[Church of England parish church|Anglican churchyards]] it was open for interment to anyone who could afford the fees. It appears on [[John Rocque's Map of London, 1746|Rocque's Map of London]] of 1746, and elsewhere, as "Tindal's Burying Ground".

An inscription at the eastern entrance gate to the burial ground reads:

{{quote|This church-yard was inclosed with a brick wall at the sole charges of the City of London, in the mayoralty of [[John Lawrence (Lord Mayor)|Sir John Lawrence]], {{Abbreviation|Knt.|Knight}}, Anno Domini 1665; and afterwards the gates thereof were built and finished in the mayoralty of [[Thomas Bloodworth|Sir Thomas Bloudworth]], Knt., Anno Domini, 1666.}}

The present gates and inscription date from 1868, but the wording follows that of an original 17th-century inscription at the western entrance, now lost.<ref name="nhle"/>

The earliest recorded monumental inscription was that to "Grace, daughter of T. Cloudesly, of Leeds. February 1666".<ref>William Maitland, ''The History and Survey of London from its Foundation to the Present Time'' (London, 1756), p. 775</ref> The earliest surviving monument is believed to be the [[headstone]] to [[Theophilus Gale]]: the inscription reads "Theophilus Gale MA / Born 1628 / Died 1678".<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1396557 |desc=Monument to Theophilus Gale, South Enclosure |access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref>

In 1769 an act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Prebendary of St. Paul London (Leasing) Act 1769}}''' ([[9 Geo. 3]]. c. ''61'' {{small|Pr.}}), gave the corporation the right to continue the lease for 99 years. The City authorities continued to let the ground to their tenant as a burial ground; in 1781 the corporation decided to take over management of the burial ground.

So many historically important Protestant nonconformists chose this as their place of interment that the 19th-century poet and writer [[Robert Southey]] characterised Bunhill Fields in 1830 as the ground "which the Dissenters regard as their [[Campo Santo (disambiguation)|Campo Santo]]".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/pilgrimsprogres00soutgoog#page/n90/mode/2up |title=The Pilgrim's Progress: with a life of John Bunyan |publisher=John Murray and John Major |year=1830 |editor-last=Southey |editor-first=Robert |editor-link=Robert Southey |location=London |page=lxxxi}}</ref> This term was applied to its "daughter", [[Abney Park Cemetery]] in [[Stoke Newington]].

[[File:Bunhill Fields - geograph.org.uk - 805763.jpg|thumb|left|Monuments in Bunhill Fields]]

==Closure as a burial ground==
[[File:Bunhill Fields Act.jpg|thumb|right|Act of Parliament of 1867 for the Preservation of Bunhill fields as an Open Space]]

The [[Burial Act 1852]] was passed which enabled grounds to be closed once they became full. An Order for Closure for Bunhill Fields was made in December 1853, and the final burial (that of Elizabeth Howell Oliver) took place on 5 January 1854. Occasional interments continued to be permitted in existing vaults or graves: the final burial of this kind is believed to have been that of a Mrs. Gabriel of [[Brixton]] in February 1860.<ref name="Corporation of London 1991, p. 8">Corporation of London 1991, p. 8.</ref> By this date approximately 123,000 interments had taken place in the burial ground.<ref>Corporation of London 1991, pp. 4, 8.</ref>

Two decades before, a group of City nonconformists led by [[George Collison]] bought a site for a new landscaped alternative, at part of [[Abney Park]] in Stoke Newington. This was named [[Abney Park Cemetery]] and opened in 1840. All parts were available for the burial of any person, regardless of religious creed. It preceded [[Brookwood Cemetery]] as the prototype of many cemeteries to come nationally with "no invidious dividing lines". It has a unique nondenominational chapel, designed by [[William Hosking]].

==Community garden==
{{Annotated image
| image = 1830londonNN.png
| image-width = 2500
| image-left = -1320
| image-top = -1100
| width = 200
| height = 200
| float = right
| annotations =
| caption = Crop of Christopher and John Greenwood's 8 inch-to-mile map published in 1827 from an 1830 republication (click to view all).
}}
Upon closure of the Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, its future was uncertain as its lessee, the City of London Corporation, was close to expiry of its lease, scheduled for Christmas 1867.<ref>Ledger-Lomas 2017.</ref> To prevent the land from being redeveloped by the [[Ecclesiastical Commissioners]] (who controlled the freehold) at this expiry, the Corporation formed the Special Bunhill Fields Burial Ground Committee in 1865. This became formally known as the Bunhill Fields Preservation Committee.

Appointed by the corporation, it consisted of twelve advisors under the chairmanship of [[Charles Reed (British politician)|Charles Reed]], [[Society of Antiquaries of London|FSA]] (son of the Congregational philanthropist {{abbreviation|Dr.|Doctor}} Andrew Reed). He later rose to prominence as the first [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Hackney (UK Parliament constituency)|Hackney]] and chairman of the first School Board for London before being knighted. Along with his interest in making it into a parkland landscape, he was similarly interested in the wider educational and public benefits of [[Abney Park Cemetery]], of which he was a prominent director.

To corroborate the committee's work, the corporation obtained an act of Parliament, the [[Bunhill Fields Burial Ground Act 1867]] ([[30 & 31 Vict.]] c. 38),<ref name="CityOfLondon">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/city-gardens/visitor-information/Pages/Bunhill-Fields.aspx |title=Bunhill Fields Burial Ground |publisher=City of London |access-date=10 November 2016}}</ref> "for the Preservation of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground&nbsp;... as an open space". The legislation enabled them to continue to maintain the site when [[reversion (law)|possession would have otherwise reverted]] to the [[Ecclesiastical Commissioners]], provided it was laid out as a public open space with seating, gardens, and some of its most worthy monuments were restored. The improvements, which included the laying out of walks and paths, cost an estimated £3,500. The new park was opened by the [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor]], [[Sir James Lawrence, 1st Baronet|James Clarke Lawrence]], on 14 October 1869.<ref name="Corporation of London 1991, p. 8" />

The ground was severely damaged by [[Nazi Germany|German]] bombing during World War II; it is believed to have hosted an [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft gun]] during the [[The Blitz|Blitz]].<ref name="nhle"/> In the 1950s, after some debate, the City ordered: to clear the northern third (the projection) of the site of most of its monuments to open it as a public garden; and to preserve and protect the rest behind railings. Legislation in 1960 gave the freehold to the city (the corporation), which continues to maintain the grounds. Landscaping was designed and overseen by the architect and landscape architect [[Peter Shepheard]] in 1964–65.<ref name="nhle"/><ref>Corporation of London 1991, pp. 9–10.</ref>

==Bunyan, Defoe and Blake==
[[File:Finsbury bunyan defoe blake 1.jpg|thumb|left|The broadwalk, looking north. John Bunyan's monument is in the foreground, with memorials to Daniel Defoe (obelisk, left) and Willam Blake (headstone, right) in the background.]]

The best-known monuments are those to the three literary and artistic figures [[John Bunyan]], [[Daniel Defoe]] and [[William Blake]]. Their graves have long been sites of cultural pilgrimage: Isabella Holmes stated in 1896 that the "most frequented paths" in the burial ground were those leading to the monuments of Bunyan and Defoe.<ref>Holmes 1896, p. 135.</ref> In their present form, all these monuments post-date the closure of the burial ground. Their settings were further radically modified by the landscaping of 1964–65, when a paved north–south "broadwalk" was created in the middle of the burial ground to display them—outside the railed-off areas, accessible to visitors, and cleared of other monuments. Bunyan's monument lies at the broadwalk's southern end, and that to Defoe at its northern end, while Blake's headstone was moved from the site of his grave and repositioned next to Defoe, alongside the headstone to the lesser-known [[Joseph Swain (poet)|Joseph Swain]] (died 1796). This arrangement survives, but in 2018 a second monument to Blake was placed on the actual site of his grave.

===John Bunyan===
[[John Bunyan]], author of ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress|Pilgrim's Progress]]'', died in August 1688. He was initially buried in the "[[Baptists|Baptist]] Corner" at the back of the burial ground, on the understanding that his remains would be moved into the [[Burial vault (tomb)|family vault]] of his friend John Strudwick when that was next opened for a burial. There is no certain evidence as to when (or even if) this was done: the probability, however, is that it occurred when Strudwick himself died in 1695, and certainly Bunyan's name was inscribed on the side of the monument.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Philip |first=Robert |title=The Life, Times and Characteristics of John Bunyan, author of the Pilgrim's Progress |publisher=Thomas Ward |year=1839 |location=London |pages=578–580}}</ref> The Strudwick monument took the form of a large [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] stone chest. By the 19th century, this had fallen into decay, but in the period following the closure of the burial ground a public appeal for its restoration was launched under the presidency of the [[Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury|7th Earl of Shaftesbury]]. This work was completed in May 1862, and comprised a complete reconstruction of the monument, undertaken by the sculptor [[Edgar George Papworth Senior]] (1809–1866).<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1396491 |desc=Monument to John Bunyan, Central Broadwalk |access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref> Although Papworth retained the basic form of the tomb-chest, he added a [[Tomb effigy|recumbent effigy]] of Bunyan to the top of it, and two [[relief]] panels to its sides depicting scenes from ''Pilgrim's Progress''. The monument was further restored in 1928 (the tercentenary of Bunyan's birth), and again after World War II (following serious wartime damage to the effigy's face).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Winslow |first=Ola Elizabeth |url=https://archive.org/details/johnbunyan0000wins |title=John Bunyan |publisher=Macmillan |year=1961 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/johnbunyan0000wins/page/201 201–202] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=Richard |title=The Art of Memory: sculpture in the cemeteries of London |publisher=Frontier Publishing |year=2016 |isbn=9781872914442 |location=Kirstead |pages=76–77}}</ref>

<gallery widths="240px" heights="170px" class="center" caption="">
File:Bunyan tomb 1849.jpg|The monument to the Strudwick family and John Bunyan in its original form: an engraving of 1849
File:Monument to John Bunyan, Central Broadwalk 2013-09-04 14-21-58.jpg|John Bunyan's monument as remodelled in 1862
File:Bunyan's tomb.jpg|Effigy of John Bunyan
</gallery>

===Daniel Defoe===
[[File:Daniel Defoe monument Bunhill Fields.jpg|thumb|right|upright|1870 obelisk to Daniel Defoe]]
[[Daniel Defoe]], author of ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'', died in April 1731 and was buried in Bunhill Fields: his wife, Mary, died in December 1732 and was laid to rest beside him. His daughter-in-law was also buried in the same grave. Defoe died in poverty, and the grave was marked with a simple headstone. In the winter of 1857/8 – at a time when the burial ground was closed and neglected—the grave was struck by lightning and the headstone broken. In 1869, James Clarke, editor of the ''Christian World'' children's newspaper, launched an appeal for subscriptions to place a more suitable memorial on the grave. He encouraged his readers to make donations of [[Sixpence (British coin)|sixpence]] each; and to stimulate enthusiasm opened two lists, one for boys and one for girls, to encourage a spirit of competition between them. Many adults also made donations. In the end, some 1,700 subscriptions raised a total of about £200. A design for a marble [[obelisk]] (or "Cleopatric pillar") was commissioned from C. C. Creeke; and the sculptor [[Samuel Horner (sculptor)|Samuel Horner]] of [[Bournemouth]] was commissioned to execute it. In late 1869, when the foundations were being dug, skeletons were disinterred, and there was an unseemly rush for souvenirs by the crowd of onlookers: the police had to be called before calm was restored. The monument was unveiled at a ceremony attended by three of Defoe's great-granddaughters on 16 September 1870.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1396492 |desc=Monument to Daniel Defoe, Central Broadwalk |access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Frank |first=Katherine |url=https://archive.org/details/crusoedanieldefo0000fran_g6g8/page/287 |title=Crusoe: Daniel Defoe, Robert Knox and the creation of a myth |publisher=Bodley Head |year=2011 |isbn=9780224073097 |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/crusoedanieldefo0000fran_g6g8/page/287 287–291] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

===William Blake===
[[William Blake]] died in August 1827 and was buried in the northern part of the burial ground. His wife, [[Catherine Blake|Catherine Sophia]], died in October 1831 and was buried in a separate grave on the south side of the ground. By the 20th century, Blake's grave was in disrepair; and in 1927, for the centenary of his death and at a time when his reputation was on the rise, a new headstone was commissioned. As it had been decided to commemorate both William and Catherine, despite the fact that the headstone would stand at some distance from Catherine's grave, the inscription was phrased as "Near by lie the remains of ...". When Bunhill Fields was relandscaped in the 1960s, Blake's grave lay in the area that was to be cleared of monuments. The headstone was therefore moved approximately 20&nbsp;metres (yards) to its present location, next to the monument to Daniel Defoe. It was also rotated through 90°, so that it now faces south rather than west.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1396493 |desc=Monument to William and Catherine Sophia Blake, Central Broadwalk |access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref> [[Joseph Swain (poet)|Joseph Swain]]'s headstone was added to the grouping at the same time, although that faces west.<ref name="nhle"/> Flowers, coins and other [[Votive offering|tokens]] are regularly left by visitors to Blake's headstone.

In 2006–07, members of the group The Friends of William Blake established the original location of his grave, and proposed placing a new memorial there.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://friendsofblake.com/ |title=Cause For Celebration: The Location of William Blake's Grave discovered! |publisher=The Friends of William Blake |access-date=29 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531072145/http://www.friendsofblake.com/ |archive-date=31 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the form of a [[ledger stone]], with lettering by [[Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley|Lida Cardozo Kindersley]], this was finally unveiled on 12 August 2018 by [[Philip Pullman]], President of the Blake Society.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/aug/11/how-amateur-sleuths-finally-tracked-down-burial-place-william-blake |title=How amateur sleuths finally tracked down the burial place of William Blake |date=11 August 2018 |work=The Guardian |access-date=11 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/blake-s-final-stop-on-the-road-to-jerusalem-is-recognised-at-last-gdfvx2jm2 |title=William Blake's final stop on the road to Jerusalem is recognised at last |date=23 July 2018 |work=[[The Times]]|location=London|access-date=11 August 2018}}</ref>

<gallery widths="240px" heights="170px" class="center" caption="">
File:Finsbury bunhill blake 1.jpg|1927 headstone to William and Catherine Sophia Blake
File:Bunhill Blake 2018.jpg|2018 ledger stone on William Blake's grave
</gallery>

==Records==
[[File:Grave of John Rippon, Bunhill Fields.jpg|thumb|right|Tomb of [[John Rippon]] (died 1836)]]

Burial ground registers, from 1713 to 1854, are held at [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] at [[Kew]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/browse/C2491990?v=r |title=Discover Our Collections |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=16 June 2014}} References RG 4/3985–4001.</ref> Other records, including interment order books dating from 1789 to 1854, and a list of the legible monument/headstone inscriptions in 1869, are held at [[The London Archives]].

[[Baptist]] minister [[John Rippon]]—who was himself buried at the site in 1836—made transcripts of its monumental inscriptions in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, some copied while "laying on his side". In 1803 he issued a prospectus for a six-volume publication on Bunhill Fields, but this never came to fruition. The [[British Library]] now holds 14 manuscript volumes of his transcripts; a further six volumes are held in the [[College of Arms]].<ref>Corporation of London 1991, p. 11.</ref><ref>Ledger-Lomas 2017, pp. 164–165.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?docId=IAMS032-002019895&vid=IAMS_VU2&indx=1&dym=false&dscnt=1&onCampus=false&group=ALL&institution=BL&ct=search&vl(freeText0)=032-002019895 |title=Collections relating to the Dissenters' burial-ground at Bunhill Fields, London, by John Rippon, D.D., F.S.A.: Add MSS 28513–28523 |website=Explore Archives and Manuscripts |publisher=British Library |access-date=17 September 2017}}</ref>

{{-}}

==Notable graves==
[[File:Grave of Thomas Rosewell, Bunhill Fields.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Headstone to [[Thomas Rosewell]] (died 1692), nonconformist minister. The original inscription was in Latin, but was replaced with this English version in the 20th century.]]
[[File:Bayes-Cotton Tomb at Bunhill Fields - geograph.org.uk - 702746.jpg|thumb|right|Monument to members of the Bayes and Cotton families, including [[Joshua Bayes]] (died 1746) and his son [[Thomas Bayes]] (died 1761)]]
[[File:Bunhill Fields, London 24.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Monument to the hymn writer and Calvinist minister [[Joseph Hart]] (died 1768)]]
[[File:Richard Price monument.JPG|thumb|right|Tomb of [[Richard Price]] (died 1791), moral philosopher and nonconformist preacher, and his wife Sarah (died 1786)]]
[[File:Isaac Watts DD tomb in Bunhill Fields.jpg|thumb|Tomb of [[Isaac Watts]] (died 1748), "Father of English [[Hymnody]]"]]
[[File:Thomas Hardy monument.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Monument to the radical reformer [[Thomas Hardy (political reformer)|Thomas Hardy]] (died 1832), designed by [[John Woody Papworth|J. W. Papworth]]]]
[[File:Bunhill Lindsey tomb 2.JPG|thumb|right|Tomb of the [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]] [[Theophilus Lindsey]] (died 1808), [[Elizabeth Rayner]] (died 1800) and [[Thomas Belsham]] (died 1829)]]
[[File:Grave of David Nasmith, Bunhill Fields.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Monument to [[David Nasmith]] (died 1839), founder of the [[City Mission|City Mission Movement]]]]
[[File:Bunhill Fields, London 26.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Headstone for [[William Shrubsole]] (died 1806), musician and composer, with John Benjamin Tolkien (died 1819) and Mary Tolkien (died 1837)<!-- do NOT identify these as the grandparents of J.R.R. Tolkien – they weren't -->]]

Notable burials include:

===17th century===
* [[Thomas Brand (minister)|Thomas Brand]] (1635–1691), nonconformist minister and divine
* [[John Bunyan]] (1628–1688), author of ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]''
* [[Thomas Cole (minister)|Thomas Cole]] (1628–1697), Independent minister
* [[John Faldo]] (1633–1690), nonconformist minister and controversialist
* Lt. Gen. [[Charles Fleetwood]] (c. 1618–1692), fought on the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] side in the [[English Civil War]], served as [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]] 1652–55, and married Bridget, eldest daughter of [[Oliver Cromwell]]
* [[Theophilus Gale]] (1628–1678), nonconformist minister, educationalist and theologian
* [[Thomas Goodwin]] (1600–1680), Puritan theologian and preacher
* [[William Hooke (minister)|William Hooke]] or Hook (1600–1677), Puritan clergyman
* [[Francis Howell (philosopher)|Francis Howell]] (1625–1679), Principal of [[Jesus College, Oxford]], from 1657 to 1660
* [[William Jenkyn]] (1613–1685), nonconformist minister, imprisoned during the [[Interregnum (1649–1660)|Interregnum]]
* [[Hanserd Knollys]] (1599–1691), Particular Baptist minister
* [[Nathaniel Mather]] (1631–1697), Independent minister
* [[John Owen (theologian)|John Owen]] (1616–1683), Puritan divine, theologian, academic administrator and statesman
* [[Vavasor Powell]] (1617–1670), Welsh Puritan preacher and vicar of [[Dartford]], Kent, [[Parliamentary Army]] chaplain, "church planter" sent out by the [[Westminster Assembly]], and writer
* [[Thomas Rosewell]] (1630–1692), nonconformist minister of Rotherhithe
* [[John Rowe (minister)|John Rowe]] (1626–1677), nonconformist minister
* [[Nathaniel Vincent]] ({{Circa|1639}}–1697), nonconformist minister

===18th century===
* [[James Adair (serjeant-at-law)|James Adair]] (c. 1743–1798), judge and [[serjeant-at-law]]
* [[Stephen Addington]] (1729–1796), dissenting clergyman and teacher
* [[William Aldridge]] (1737–1797), nonconformist minister
* [[Thomas Amory (tutor)|Thomas Amory]] (1701–1774), dissenting minister, tutor and poet
* [[John Asty]] (c. 1672–1730), dissenting clergyman
* [[Joshua Bayes]] (1671–1746), nonconformist minister
* [[Thomas Bayes]] (1702–1761), mathematician, clergyman, and friend of [[Richard Price]]
* [[William Blackburn]] (1750–1790), architect and surveyor
* [[Thomas Bradbury (minister)|Thomas Bradbury]] (1677–1759), congregational minister
* [[John Brine]] (1703–1765), [[Particular Baptist]] minister
* Thomas Fowell Buxton (1758–1795), father of namesake [[Thomas Fowell Buxton]], anti-slavery philanthropist
* [[Samuel Chandler]] (1693–1766), nonconformist minister
* [[John Conder]] (1714–1781), President of [[Independent College, Homerton|Homerton College]]
* [[James Coningham]] (1670–1716), presbyterian divine and tutor
* [[Thomas Cotton (Dissenting minister)|Thomas Cotton]] (1653–1730), dissenting minister
* Cromwell family: two tombs commemorate various 18th-century members of this family, including Hannah Cromwell ''née'' Hewling (1653–1732), widow of Major Henry Cromwell (1658–1711), the grandson of [[Oliver Cromwell]]; together with several of the couple's children and grandchildren. (Major Cromwell himself died and was buried in [[Lisbon]].)
* [[Daniel Defoe]] (1661–1731), author of ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]''
* [[Thomas Doolittle]] ({{Circa|1632}}–1707), nonconformist minister, tutor and author
* [[John Eames]] (died 1744), dissenting tutor
* [[Thomas Emlyn]] (1663–1741), nonconformist divine
* [[John Evans (divine)|John Evans]] (c. 1680–1730), Welsh presbyterian minister and historian
* [[John Fell (tutor)|John Fell]] (1735–1797), congregationalist minister and classical tutor
* [[Caleb Fleming]] (1698–1779), dissenting minister and polemicist
* [[Roger Flexman]] (1708–1795), presbyterian minister, historical scholar and bibliographer
* [[James Foster (baptist minister)|James Foster]] (1697–1753), Baptist minister and author of ''Essay on Fundamentals'', one of the first nonconformist texts
* [[Philip Furneaux]] (1726–1783), Independent minister
* [[Thomas Gibbons (hymn writer)|Thomas Gibbons]] (1720–1785), nonconformist minister, hymn writer and poet
* [[Andrew Gifford]] (1700–1784), Baptist minister and numismatist
* [[John Gill (theologian)|John Gill]] (1697–1771), Baptist pastor, biblical scholar, and Calvinist theologian, author of the ''Exposition of the Bible'' and the ''Body of Divinity''
* [[John Guyse]] (1680–1761), Independent minister
* [[Charles Hamilton (orientalist)|Charles Hamilton]] (c. 1753–1792), orientalist, known for his English translation of ''[[Al-Hidayah (book)|Al-Hidayah]]''
* [[William Harris (Presbyterian minister)|William Harris]] (c. 1675–1740), presbyterian minister
* [[Joseph Hart]] (1712–1768), hymn writer and Calvinist minister in London
* [[William Kiffin]] (1616–1701), Baptist minister and wool-merchant
* [[Andrew Kippis]] (1725–1795), nonconformist clergyman and biographer
* [[Nathaniel Lardner]] (1684–1768), theologian
* [[Theophilus Lobb]] (1678–1763), physician, and medical and religious writer
* [[John Macgowan]] (1726–1780), Scottish Baptist minister and author
* [[Paul Henry Maty]] (1744–1787), British Museum librarian
* [[Henry Miles]] (1698–1763), dissenting minister and scientific writer
* [[Roger Morrice]] (1628–1702), Puritan minister and political journalist
* [[Daniel Neal]] (1678–1743), Independent minister and historian of Puritanism
* [[Christopher Ness]] (1621–1705), Independent minister and theological author
* [[Thomas Newcomen]] (1663–1729), steam engine pioneer (exact site of burial unknown)
* [[Joshua Oldfield]] (1656–1729), presbyterian divine
* [[William Orme (minister)|William Orme]] (1787–1830), Scottish Congregational minister and biographer
* Dame Mary Page (1672–1729), wife of [[Sir Gregory Page, 1st Baronet]]
* [[Edward Pickard]] (1714–1778), dissenting minister
* [[Richard Price]] (1723–1791), founder of life insurance principles
* [[Elizabeth Rayner]] (1714–1800), Unitarian benefactress
* [[Benjamin Robinson]] (1666–1724), Presbyterian minister and theologian
* [[Samuel Rosewell]] (1679–1722), Presbyterian minister
* [[Thomas Rowe (tutor)|Thomas Rowe]] (1657–1705), nonconformist minister
* [[Samuel Morton Savage]] (1721–1791), nonconformist minister and dissenting tutor
* [[Samuel Say]] (1676–1743), dissenting minister
* [[Samuel Stennett]] (1727–1795), [[Seventh Day Baptist]] minister and hymnwriter
* [[Joseph Swain (poet)|Joseph Swain]] (1761–1796), Baptist minister, poet and hymnwriter
* [[Isaac Watts]] (1674–1748), hymn writer ("[[Joy to the World]]"; "[[When I Survey the Wondrous Cross]]"), theologian and logician
* [[Susanna Wesley]] (1669–1742), mother of [[John Wesley]], founder of [[Methodism]] and [[Charles Wesley]], hymn writer
* [[Daniel Williams (theologian)|Daniel Williams]] (1643–1716), theologian and founder of [[Dr Williams's Library]]

===19th century===
* [[Thomas Belsham]] (1750–1829), [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] minister
* [[Catherine Blake]] (1762–1831), wife of William Blake
* [[William Blake]] (1757–1827), painter, engraver, poet, and mystic
* [[David Bradberry]] (1736–1803), nonconformist minister
* [[John Bradford (dissenting minister)|John Bradford]] (1750–1805), dissenting minister
* [[Charles Buck (minister)|Charles Buck]] (1771–1815), [[Independent (religion)|Independent minister]] and theological writer, known for his ''Theological Dictionary''
* [[George Burder]] (1752–1832), nonconformist divine
* [[John Clayton (minister)|John Clayton]] (1754–1843), Independent minister
* [[Eleanor Coade]] (1733–1821), pioneer of the artificial stone known as [[Coade stone]]
* [[Thomas Dale (physician)|Thomas Dale]] (1729–1816), physician
* [[Joseph Denison (banker)|Joseph Denison]] (c. 1726–1806), banker
* [[Daniel Fisher (minister)|Daniel Fisher]] (1731–1807), dissenting minister
* [[Joseph Hardcastle (1752–1819)|Joseph Hardcastle]] (1752–1819), one of the founders of the [[London Missionary Society|Missionary Society]]
* [[Thomas Hardy (political reformer)|Thomas Hardy]] (1752–1832), political reformer and founder of the [[London Corresponding Society]]
* [[Thomas Heaphy]] the elder (1775–1835), watercolourist and portrait-painter
* [[Jabez Carter Hornblower]] (1744–1814), steam engine pioneer
* [[Henry Hunter (divine)|Henry Hunter]] (1741–1802), Scottish minister and translator
* [[John Hyatt (clergyman)|John Hyatt]] (1767–1826), one of the founding preachers of Calvinist Methodism at [[Whitefield's Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road]] 1806–1828.
* [[Joseph Ivimey]] (1773–1834), Particular Baptist minister and historian
* [[William Jones (1762–1846)]], Welsh Baptist religious writer and bookseller
* [[John Le Keux]] (1783–1846), English engraver
* [[Theophilus Lindsey]] (1723–1808), a founder of Unitarianism
* [[John Martin (minister)|John Martin]] (1741–1820), Particular Baptist minister
* [[David Nasmith]] (1799–1839), founder of the [[City Mission|City Mission Movement]]
* [[Joseph Nightingale]] (1775–1824), writer and preacher
* [[William Orme (minister)|William Orme]] (1787–1830), Scottish Congregational minister and biographer
* [[Apsley Pellatt (1763–1826)]], glass manufacturer
* [[Timothy Priestley]] (1734–1814), Independent minister, and scientific collaborator with his brother [[Joseph Priestley]]
* [[Thomas Pringle]] (1789–1834), Scottish poet and author, and Secretary to the [[Anti-Slavery Society (1823–1838)|Anti-Slavery Society]] (re-interred 1970, Eildon Church, [[Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve|Baviaans valley]], South Africa)
* [[Abraham Rees]] (1743–1825), Welsh nonconformist minister and compiler of ''[[Rees's Cyclopædia]]''
* [[John Rippon]] (1750–1836), [[Baptist]] clergyman, composer of many well known hymns
* [[Richard Sharp (politician)|Richard "Conversation" Sharp]] (1759–1835), prominent among the Dissenters' "Deputies", critic, merchant and MP
* [[William Shrubsole]] (1760–1806), singer and composer
* [[Thomas Stothard]] (1755–1834), painter, illustrator and engraver
* [[Charles Taylor (engraver)|Charles Taylor]] (1756–1823), engraver and biblical scholar
* [[John Towers (minister)|John Towers]] (c. 1747–1804), Independent minister
* [[George Walker (mathematician)|George Walker]] (c. 1734–1807), dissenter, mathematician, theologian, and [[Fellow of the Royal Society]]
* [[James Ware (ophthalmologist)|James Ware]] (1756–1815), eye surgeon and Fellow of the [[Royal Society]]
* Rev. [[Alexander Waugh (minister)|Alexander Waugh]] (1754–1827), co-founder of the [[London Missionary Society]] and forebear of [[Alec Waugh]] and [[Evelyn Waugh]]<ref name="ODNB">{{cite odnb |last1=Waugh |first1=Arthur |last2=Ritchie |first2=Lionel Alexander |title=Waugh, Alexander (1754–1827) |origyear=2004 |year=2006 |id=28899 }}</ref>
* [[Hugh Worthington]] (1752–1813), dissenting minister

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last=Black |first=Susan E. |title=Bunhill Fields: the great Dissenters' burial ground |publisher=Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center |year=1990 |location=Provo, Utah}}
* {{Cite book |last=Corporation of London |title=The Official Guide to Bunhill Fields |publisher=Corporation of London |year=1991 |isbn=0-85203-033-9 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=Mrs Basil [Isabella M.] |url=https://archive.org/stream/londonburialgro00holmgoog#page/n136/mode/2up |title=The London Burial Grounds: notes on their history from the earliest times to the present day |publisher=T. F. Unwin |year=1896 |location=London |pages=133–135}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MuleAAAAcAAJ |title=Bunhill Memorials: sacred reminiscences of three hundred ministers and other persons of note, who are buried in Bunhill Fields, of every denomination |publisher=James Paul |year=1849 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=J. A. |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ledger-Lomas |first=Michael |title=Visualising a Sacred City: London, art and religion |publisher=I. B. Tauris |year=2017 |isbn=9781784536619 |editor-last=Quash |editor-first=Ben |location=London |pages=158–170 |chapter=The Campo Santo of the dissenters: Bunhill Fields and sacred space in Victorian London |editor-last2=Rosen |editor-first2=Aaron |editor-last3=Reddaway |editor-first3=Chloe}}
* {{Cite book |last=Light |first=Alfred W. |url=https://archive.org/details/bunhillfieldswri00lighuoft |title=Bunhill Fields: written in honour and to the memory of the many saints of God whose bodies rest in this old London cemetery |publisher=C.J. Farncombe |year=1913–33 |location=London}} (2 vols)

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bunhill Fields}}
* {{National Heritage List for England |num=1001713 |desc=Bunhill Fields Burial Ground |access-date=28 June 2014|ref=none}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/city-gardens/visitor-information/Pages/Bunhill-Fields.aspx |title=Bunhill Fields Burial Ground |publisher=City of London |access-date=10 November 2016}}
* [https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW011217 Aerial view from 1947], from the English Heritage "Britain from Above" archive

{{LB Islington}}
{{Cemeteries in England}}
{{Cemeteries in London}}
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[[Category:1665 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Burials at Bunhill Fields|*]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in London]]
[[Category:Congregationalism]]
[[Category:Grade I listed parks and gardens in London]]
[[Category:Honourable Artillery Company]]
[[Category:Nonconformism]]
[[Category:Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Islington]]
[[Category:Parks and open spaces of the City of London Corporation]]
[[Category:Protestant Reformed cemeteries]]
[[Category:Cemeteries established in the 17th century]]