History | Surrounding
area | Biodiversity |
Tours | Burial records
| Further information
Bunhill Fields is a former Dissenters' burial ground of four
hectares, bounded by City Road to the east and Bunhill Row to the
west. Today the area is an oasis of calm and greenery, which has
been managed as a public open space by the City of London since
1867.
It is the last resting place for an estimated 120,000 bodies,
including three of Britain's most eminent Nonconformists - William
Blake, John Bunyan and Daniel Defoe.
Download map of Bunhill Fields and the
graves (886kb)
Many of the graves are packed closely together, giving an idea
of how London's burial places looked before large cemeteries
further from the centre of London opened from the 1830s
onwards.
Bunhill today is a popular lunchtime spot for office workers
wishing to escape the hustle and bustle of the surrounding
City.
Bunhill Fields opening hours
October to March: Weekdays from 7.30am
to 4.00pm, Weekends and Bank Holidays from 9.30am to
4.00pm
April to September : Weekdays from 7.30am
to 7pm, Weekends and Bank Holidays from 9.30am to 7pm
Enclosed Areas: Some of the graves are behind
railings. Most areas can be seen from the main paths,
however if you wish to enter an enclosed area please
visit the site between 1 - 3pm Monday - Friday when an attendant
will be available to open the gates or call the City Gardens Office
(020 7374 4127) to arrange an appointment.
Management of Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields has been managed as a public open space by the
City of London Corporation for over 140 years, initially under the
Bunhill Fields Burial Ground Act 1867, but latterly under the City
of London (Various Powers) Act 1960. In order to set out the
vision, objectives and priorities for the management of Bunhill
Fields over the next five years, a site Management Plan has
been prepared by the City Gardens team (the full document and a
summary version are available to download below).
Bunhill Fields Management Plan
Summary (224kb)
Bunhill Fields Management Plan
2009-2014 (2.8mb)
Our overall aim is to provide a high quality urban green space,
which reflects and benefits the local community it serves.
Our vision is therefore: To maintain Bunhill Fields Burial
Ground as a valuable, historic property with rich cultural, natural
and social attributes at a local, national and international
level.
Bunhill received its first Green Flag this year (announced on 23
July 2009). The Green Flag Award scheme recognises the value of
green spaces to communities, and recognises staff and managing
organisations that are dedicated to providing excellent green
spaces for the community.
History of Bunhill Fields
The site has a long history as a burial ground, but is most
significant for its Nonconformist connections, dating from the
17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and the burial of prominent people
including William Blake, Daniel Defoe, John Bunyan and Susannah
Wesley. The significance of the burial ground is recognised by
the designation of its historic landscape as a Grade I listed entry
on the national Register of Parks and Gardens. Bunhill
Fields also forms part of the Bunhill Fields Burial Ground and
Finsbury Square Conservation Area and has 75 listed tombs within
its boundary.
The current layout of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground dates was
developed in two main phases. The first of these was in the 1860s,
when the City of London improved the site: laying out paths,
undertaking tree planting and carrying out work to the tombs
including re-cutting and recording inscriptions. In the 1960s
another layer was added to the site with a sensitively designed
public garden by one of the foremost landscape architects of the
period, Peter Shepheard. The southern area remained dominated by
the memorials, fenced off from public access by metal railings,
while to the north a new open lawn enclosed by shrub planting was
created to complement the memorial landscape. The burial ground now
contains 2,333 monuments, mostly simple headstones (of which there
are 1,920) arranged in a grid formation.
Biodiversity
Bunhill Fields Burial Ground provides a valuable oasis of
greenery in a highly urban area. It contains grassland and
shrubbery along with fine mature trees which harbour birds and
bats. Its value for biodiversity is indicated by its designation as
a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation.
The graveyard is well stocked with around 130 trees including,
London plane Platanus x hispanica trees, oaks and limes,
together with a golden-barked ash, a black mulberry and a
June-flowering winter bark tree, Drymis winteri, from
South America. The dominant pattern of tree planting began in the
1870s when the burial ground was laid out with avenues of plane
trees. The trees provide cover for birds including great tit, blue
tit, wren, robin and feral and wood pigeons. It is of note that a
pair of spotted flycatchers (a UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority
species) is also reported as breeding on site.
The ground flora, patchy shaded and regularly mown grass cover,
is comprised of annual meadow grass Poa annua, greater
plantain Plantago major, perennial rye-grass Lolium
perenne and common chickweed Stellaria media, with
locally abundant spring beauty Claytonia perfoliata,
dandelion Taraxicum officinale, white clover Trifolium
repens, selfheal Prunella vulagaris and procumbent
yellow-sorrel Oxalis corniculata.
During the spring, swathes of crocuses surround the bases of the
trees on the north lawn, while in the grass surrounding the graves
to the south can be found snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils and
hyacinths
The memorials, together with the shade provided by the tree
cover, provide suitable habitat and micro-climate conditions for
lichens, bryophytes and ferns.
Surrounding area
Nearby Bunhill Fields Burial Ground are two other Nonconformist
sites:
Wesley Chapel
Wesley’s Chapel is sited opposite to the burial ground across
the City Road to the east. The chapel was built by John Wesley as
his base in London in 1778 and is known as ‘the cathedral of world
Methodism’. Part of the site is Wesley’s House, the Museum of
Methodism and, to the rear, a small burial ground which is the site
of John Wesley’s tomb. Other members of his family are buried at
Bunhill Fields Burial Ground. Wesley’s Chapel has an active
programme of services, as well as around 10,000 visitors a year and
is a key site for Methodists world-wide.
Further information about Wesley’s Chapel
Quaker Gardens
To the west of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, off Bunhill Row
lies Banner Street, where another important Nonconformist site and
small public open space is located. This is the Bunhill Fields
Meeting House and the Quaker Gardens. The gardens are a small
fragment of a Quaker burial ground (which was also known as Bunhill
Fields Burial Ground) and which was the first freehold property
owned by Quakers, bought in 1661 and used until 1855 for 12,000
burials. George Fox, Edward Burrough and John Bellers were buried
there and many people interested in Quakerism still visit the site
from all over the world for this reason.
Guided tours
The City Guides conduct guided walks around Bunhill Fields
Burial Ground beginning at 12:30pm
on Wednesdays during May, June and July 2009. For
more information please view the poster below or
email the City
Guides.
Download the City Guides Bunhill Fields
Tour (161kb)
Burial records
For information regarding burial records, please contact the
London Metropolitan Archives or visit the Burial Ground itself.
London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London, EC1R
0HB. Their email address is
ask.lma@cityoflondon.gov.uk Further
information can be found on the London Metropolitan
Archives webpage www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma
Guildhall Library has some very useful printed items on Bunhill
Fields including some with transcriptions of epitaphs (e.g. Bunhill
Fields Preservation Committee. History of the Bunhill Fields burial
ground : with some of the principal inscriptions. Pardon & Son,
1870) but no burial records.
Further information
For a leaflet or further information on Bunhill Fields Burial
Ground, please telephone the City Gardens office on 020
7332 3505 or download from the link below.
Download the Bunhill Fields Burial Ground
leaflet (496kb)