First and most important thing to note: burial grounds, not cemetery.
What's the difference? Cemeteries are consecrated. Because Bunhill Fields was originally designated for dissenters and non-conformists, it was never consecrated, and is thus called a burial ground. At around 4 acres, it's the last resting place for an estimated 120,000 bodies (work it out - less than 1.5 square metres per body), including three of Britain's most eminent nonconformists. It's no longer in use for new interments, and hasn't been for a long long time.
It's right in the centre of the City of London, the Square Mile, and is now the only remaining burial ground in the capital.
The burial grounds are separated into three or four separate fenced and gated (locked) areas, and there is only a very small handful of graves or memorials outside the fences. It is however made clear that anybody who desires access to the graves themselves may simply ask an attendant. I found a very helpful and friendly couple of the latter, who let me into the largest of the enclosures, and it was in here that I took the majority of the photographs.
There are many gems in the burial grounds. Not only are there some most unusual memorials in evidence and - of those that can be read - some fascinating inscriptions, but also it's the final resting place of three well known noncomformist artists: William Blake, John Bunyan and Daniel Defoe.
This quote is from Travels Beneath the City Streets, by Stephen Smith:
"We Londoners can stand directly on top of plague pits, we can stroll right through their landscaped precincts, and indulge in the tantalising vicariousness of thinking that we're almost within touching distance of this grisly history and yet are safe from its scourge. Bunhill Fields, its very name a corruption of 'bonehill', contains more bodies than there are living souls in a city the size of Southampton. 'Many who were infected and near their end ran wrapped in blankets or rags and threw themselves in and expired there, before any earth could be thrown upon them,' wrote Daniel Defoe of Bunhill Fields, where he himself was later interred." (I did once ask Stephen Smith for his permission to use this quote on a website called UK Graves, which I used to run - he never replied.)
There's loads of info about Bunhill at Wikipedia.
This is a concentrated place of burial:
With big trees and a crowded environment you'll need a good ISO 400 or more to cut through the shadows:
I believe his name was Billy:
If this was vandalism, then it's certainly the only trace thereof:
You can see the evidence of years of slowly falling soot and pollution:
In all my dozens and dozens of graveyards and cemeteries, I have only ever seen the word 'relict', meaning "other half", I suppose, here at Bunhill:
I hope that after so many years, somebody will still care about me so much:
Probably the most well-known and important grave at Bunhill:
And its other side. It seems that the most likely reason for all the water was some sort of ovarian tumour, which caused ascites, or dropsy. Phew.
And now Bunhill's most famous incumbents:
Not his grave but his memorial. His exact and precise resting place is not known:
Born Foe, he later changed his name to Defoe, and it was evidently decided that he should be buried with a hyphen:
I really do most very strongly urge those who can to visit Bunhill, a magical and wonderful place! These pix, and about 17 more, are here: http://s872.photobucket.com/albums/ab290/Alansworld-pix/Bunhill Fields/
Alan
What's the difference? Cemeteries are consecrated. Because Bunhill Fields was originally designated for dissenters and non-conformists, it was never consecrated, and is thus called a burial ground. At around 4 acres, it's the last resting place for an estimated 120,000 bodies (work it out - less than 1.5 square metres per body), including three of Britain's most eminent nonconformists. It's no longer in use for new interments, and hasn't been for a long long time.
It's right in the centre of the City of London, the Square Mile, and is now the only remaining burial ground in the capital.
The burial grounds are separated into three or four separate fenced and gated (locked) areas, and there is only a very small handful of graves or memorials outside the fences. It is however made clear that anybody who desires access to the graves themselves may simply ask an attendant. I found a very helpful and friendly couple of the latter, who let me into the largest of the enclosures, and it was in here that I took the majority of the photographs.
There are many gems in the burial grounds. Not only are there some most unusual memorials in evidence and - of those that can be read - some fascinating inscriptions, but also it's the final resting place of three well known noncomformist artists: William Blake, John Bunyan and Daniel Defoe.
This quote is from Travels Beneath the City Streets, by Stephen Smith:
"We Londoners can stand directly on top of plague pits, we can stroll right through their landscaped precincts, and indulge in the tantalising vicariousness of thinking that we're almost within touching distance of this grisly history and yet are safe from its scourge. Bunhill Fields, its very name a corruption of 'bonehill', contains more bodies than there are living souls in a city the size of Southampton. 'Many who were infected and near their end ran wrapped in blankets or rags and threw themselves in and expired there, before any earth could be thrown upon them,' wrote Daniel Defoe of Bunhill Fields, where he himself was later interred." (I did once ask Stephen Smith for his permission to use this quote on a website called UK Graves, which I used to run - he never replied.)
There's loads of info about Bunhill at Wikipedia.
This is a concentrated place of burial:
With big trees and a crowded environment you'll need a good ISO 400 or more to cut through the shadows:
I believe his name was Billy:
If this was vandalism, then it's certainly the only trace thereof:
You can see the evidence of years of slowly falling soot and pollution:
In all my dozens and dozens of graveyards and cemeteries, I have only ever seen the word 'relict', meaning "other half", I suppose, here at Bunhill:
I hope that after so many years, somebody will still care about me so much:
Probably the most well-known and important grave at Bunhill:
And its other side. It seems that the most likely reason for all the water was some sort of ovarian tumour, which caused ascites, or dropsy. Phew.
And now Bunhill's most famous incumbents:
Not his grave but his memorial. His exact and precise resting place is not known:
Born Foe, he later changed his name to Defoe, and it was evidently decided that he should be buried with a hyphen:
I really do most very strongly urge those who can to visit Bunhill, a magical and wonderful place! These pix, and about 17 more, are here: http://s872.photobucket.com/albums/ab290/Alansworld-pix/Bunhill Fields/
Alan
