Chest Tomb with Cherub Balusters, South Enclosure is a Grade II listed building in the Islington local planning authority area, England. First listed on 21 February 2011. Chest tomb.

Chest Tomb with Cherub Balusters, South Enclosure

WRENN ID
young-remnant-vetch
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Islington
Constituency
Islington South and Finsbury MP: Emily Thornberry (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
21 February 2011
Type
Chest tomb
Address
Chest Tomb with Cherub Balusters, South Enclosure, Bunhill Fields Burial Ground
OS grid reference
TQ 327 822
Coordinates
51.52325, -0.088
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

This is a chest tomb, likely from the early 18th century, located in the south enclosure of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground. It is made of Portland stone and features a stone chest with a flat top, supported at the corners by four carved amorini, which are winged cherubs' heads. The inscription on the tomb is no longer legible.

Bunhill Fields was first established as a burial ground in 1665. Its location just outside the City boundary and its independence from any Established place of worship made it the main Nonconformist cemetery in London, where notable figures such as John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, and William Blake were buried. The burial ground was closed in 1853 and transformed into a public park in 1867. It was later re-landscaped after sustaining war damage between 1964 and 1965.

The tomb is designated for its Baroque style and unusual form, as well as its group value with other listed tombs in the south enclosure of the Grade I registered Bunhill Fields Burial Ground.

Local climate

Chest Tomb with Cherub Balusters, South Enclosure sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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