Monument to Joseph Ivimey, South Enclosure

The monument is a headstone dating from 1834, situated within the south enclosure of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground. Constructed from Portland stone, it takes the form of a vertical slab with an arched top. The inscription, now partially illegible, details Joseph Ivimey’s long tenure as pastor of the Eagle Street Baptist Church and marks his date of death.

Joseph Ivimey (1773-1834) was a significant Particular Baptist minister and historian of the Baptist movement. He initially trained as a tailor before becoming an itinerant preacher. He later served as assistant minister in Wallingford and then as minister at Eagle Street Church in Holborn, London. Ivimey was a key figure in the London Baptist community, promoting missionary activity and fostering connections between churches, and was instrumental in the formation of the Baptist Union in 1812. He authored a four-volume History of the English Baptists and various other works including sermons and a biography of John Bunyan.

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground was first enclosed in 1665 and became London’s primary Nonconformist cemetery due to its location outside the City boundary and independence from the established church. The monument is listed at Grade II for its association with a prominent early 19th-century Baptist leader and for its group value with other listed tombs within the south enclosure of the Grade I registered burial ground.