Boundary Walls, Gates And Railings To Bunhill Fields Burial Ground

Boundary Walls, Gates and Railings to Bunhill Fields Burial Ground

The boundary structures enclosing Bunhill Fields Burial Ground comprise walls, railings and gates dating from different periods: the eastern boundary of 1868, the western boundary of 1878, and a southern wall of late 18th or early 19th century origin with numerical plaques.

Eastern Boundary

The eastern boundary consists of a low coped wall of dressed stone, approximately 65 metres long, punctuated by piers and topped with railings. Five granite piers, square in plan with coped and gabled tops in Greek Revival manner, bear incised and gilded inscriptions in capital letters. The two piers flanking the iron gates record the history of the burial ground, partly echoing an earlier inscription on 17th century gate piers recorded by Strype in 1720. These piers record the burial ground's foundation in 1665, its closure for burials in 1852, and opening as a public garden in 1869; further text was inscribed in 1964 describing the restoration of Bunhill Fields after the Second World War. The other three piers give the names of notable figures buried at Bunhill Fields, whose tombs largely survive and are listed separately. The railings have spearhead finials and are gathered at intervals in clusters of eight to form additional piers. A gate stands at the southern end. A small section of railings and wall to the north of the final pier is modern but built to match the original, bounding a small pocket of land added to Bunhill Fields at the start of the 21st century.

Southern Boundary

The southern boundary comprises a stock brick wall approximately 120 metres long, marking the division between Bunhill Fields and the Honourable Artillery Company buildings to the south. It runs about two-thirds of the site's width, from Bunhill Row in the west to the east wall of Armoury House, where it is replaced by a short length of modern wall and then by modern railings. The wall shows various changes of height and alignment, most notably towards the western end, midway along the flank of 33 Bunhill Row, where it drops in height by about one-third. The lower end section, corresponding to the garden wall of the former St Paul's vicarage, has shallow brick buttresses and a modern concrete coping. Attached to the wall and running east to west is a series of cast-iron numbered plaques marking the north-south rows in which tombs are arranged. Many have been lost; the surviving sequence begins at 17, then runs 18, 19, 23, 26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69.

Western Boundary

The western boundary is a low brown brick wall in Flemish bond, approximately 65 metres long, surmounted by fourteen square brick piers with moulded stone cappings. Iron railings with bracketed supports and spear finials include gates in the sixth bay from the north.

Historical Context

Bunhill Fields was first enclosed as a burial ground in 1665. Its location just outside the City boundary and independence from any Established place of worship made it London's principal Nonconformist cemetery, burial place of John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, William Blake and other leading religious and intellectual figures. The burial ground was closed for burials in 1853, laid out as a public park in 1869, and re-landscaped following war damage by Bridgewater and Shepheard in 1964–5.