Bunhill Fields burial ground, London

Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London.It lies between Old Street and Barbican tube stations. It covers just a small area and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Corporation.

I went there in 2016 and forgot all about it. Then when I went to Abney Park Cemetery recently, I was reminded of Bunhill Fields as Isaac Watts the hymn writer has a large memorial in Abney Park. But he was buried in Bunhill Fields.

Bunhill Fields on Wikipedia. It was used as a burial ground from 1665 until 1854. About 123,000 interments were estimated to have taken place. Over 2,000 monuments remain, for the most part in concentrated blocks. It was considered as nondenominational ground, and was particularly favoured by nonconformists.

It contains the graves of many notable people, including John Bunyan (died 1688), author of The Pilgrim's Progress.

My old copy of Pilgrim's Progress -

William Blake (died 1827), artist, poet, and mystic -

Daniel Defoe (died 1731), author of Robinson Crusoe -

Other notable burials include Susanna Wesley (died 1742), known as the "Mother of Methodism" through her education of sons John and Charles; Thomas Bayes (died 1761), statistician and philosopher; and Isaac Watts (died 1748), the "Father of English Hymnody".

Statue of John Wesley, founder of Methodism, outside the burial ground -

Nearby is a former Quaker burial ground.

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground is listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.