Monument to Isaac Watts, East Enclosure

Monument to Isaac Watts, East Enclosure

This is a chest tomb of Isaac Watts, erected in 1748 and renewed in 1808. It stands within the East Enclosure of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground.

The monument is constructed of Portland stone with a sandstone lid. It takes the form of a simple rectangular chest with a moulded base and lid, set upon a stone plinth. The sides and ends are decorated with raised lozenge panels, with the former (front face) inscribed "ISAAC WATTS D.D." The lid bears a short epitaph composed by Watts himself, describing his "50 years of feeble labours in the Gospel" and citing texts from St Paul's Epistles.

Isaac Watts (1674–1748) was one of the most important Dissenting writers and churchmen of the early 18th century. Born in Southampton, he was educated at the Free Grammar School in that city and at Thomas Rowe's academy in London. In 1696 he moved to Stoke Newington to serve as family chaplain and tutor to the wealthy Nonconformist MP Sir John Hartopp. In 1699 he began preaching at the Mark Lane Independent church in the City of London, becoming its minister in 1702; both these connections lasted the rest of his life. Despite long periods of ill health, he combined pastoral duties with a literary and intellectual career spanning theology, philosophy, educational theory and poetry. He is chiefly remembered for his numerous hymns, which pioneered the use of non-biblical texts in church song. They enjoyed immense popularity in the 19th century, and many—such as "Joy to the World" and "When I Behold the Wondrous Cross"—remain in use today. Watts died at the Hartopp family house at Abney Park, Stoke Newington, and was buried at Bunhill Fields with ministers from all three main Nonconformist denominations in attendance. The tomb was renewed by the Hartopp family in 1808.

Bunhill Fields was first enclosed as a burial ground in 1665. Thanks to its location just outside the City boundary and its independence from any Established place of worship, it became London's principal Nonconformist cemetery, the burial place of John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, William Blake and other leading religious and intellectual figures. It was closed for burials in 1853, laid out as a public park in 1867, and re-landscaped following war damage by Bridgewater and Shepheard in 1964–5.