Monument To Samuel Stennett, West Enclosure

The monument is a chest tomb and headstone dating to around 1795, located within the West Enclosure of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground. Constructed from Portland stone with a sandstone lid, it is a hybrid design, combining a chest tomb with a tall headstone. The main body of the tomb is a stone chest characterised by fluted corner balusters, raised and fielded side panels, and a moulded lid. A tall, vertical slab with a shaped top is cut into the lid at one end. The inscription, originally a lengthy Latin text, is now illegible.

Samuel Stennett (1727-95), a distinguished Baptist minister, was born in Exeter and moved to London in 1737. He became a leading figure in the Baptist community, a noted preacher and hymnodist, and a friend of prison reformer John Howard. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from King's College, Aberdeen, in 1763.

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground first opened in 1665 and became London's principal Nonconformist cemetery, the final resting place for prominent religious and intellectual figures. The ground was closed for burials in 1853, re-landscaped after war damage in 1964-5, and now functions as a public park.

The monument is designated at Grade II for its late 18th-century hybrid form, its commemoration of a significant Baptist minister, and its group value with other listed tombs within the Grade I registered Bunhill Fields Burial Ground.