Monument To Joseph Hughes, Middle Enclosure

The monument is a red granite obelisk erected in 1874 to commemorate Joseph Hughes (1769-1835), a prominent figure in British missionary history and co-founder of the Religious Tract Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society. It stands within the Middle Enclosure of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, a Grade I listed site that served as London's principal Nonconformist cemetery from 1665 until its closure in 1853.

The monument consists of an obelisk set upon a square pedestal with a moulded cornice and base, which in turn rests on a two-stage square plinth. The primary inscription on the pedestal details Hughes’s life and work, while a secondary inscription on the plinth below notes that the monument was erected in 1874 "by friends who venerate his excellencies." The monument is an imposing example of late 19th-century commemorative styles, constructed from granite and adding to the group value of the other listed tombs in the Middle Enclosure of Bunhill Fields.