Description

635-1/0/10130 BUNHILL FIELDS BURIAL GROUND
21-FEB-11 Monument to Susanna Wesley, South encl
osure

GV II
Headstone of Susanna Wesley, 1936, a replica of an earlier headstone

LOCATION: 532681, 182220.7

MATERIALS: sandstone, whitewashed in part

DESCRIPTION: The headstone has a shaped top and an inscription on one side. This records the details of Susanna Wesley's life, primarily through the men with whom she was connected: the Rev Samuel Wesley MA, her husband; her father, the Rev Samuel Annesley DD who was 'ejected by the Act of uniformity from the Rectory of St Giles Cripplegate' in 1662; and two of her nineteen children, the Revs John and Charles Wesley 'the former of whom was under God the Founder of the Societies of the People called Methodists'.

HISTORY: Susanna Wesley (1669-1742) was a theological writer and educator, most famous in later years as the mother of the Methodist pioneers John and Charles Wesley. She was born at 7 Spital Yard, London (q.v.) into a Puritan family, her father being the ejected minister Samuel Annesley, but demonstrated a remarkable independence of mind when at the age of twelve she elected to separate from Nonconformist ranks and join the Established church. Her friendship with the young Dissenter Samuel Wesley culminated in their marriage in 1688, by which time Samuel had rejoined the Anglican fold and was on the path to ordination. The marriage lasted forty-six years and produced as many as nineteen children. From 1691 the family lived in rural Lincolnshire, where Samuel ministered to various parishes, and where Susanna with little domestic help and less money, contrived both to run the household and act as tutor to their children - including, unusually for the time, her daughters. At John's request she wrote an account of her methods of schooling, which was published, along with other works, after her death; 'On educating my family' became her most influential writing, and continues to influence advocates of home schooling today. Susanna temporarily reverted to Nonconformity in the winter of 1711-12, when, while her husband was in London, she presided over up to 200 of his parishioners at outdoor services. This may have influenced John's later practice of promoting meetings outside church hours, and allowing women to lead them. Samuel died in 1735, and in 1739 Susanna returned to London to live with John at his headquarters in City Road, where she spent the last four years of her life as a Methodist.

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.

SOURCES: Corporation of London, A History of the Bunhill Fields Burial Ground (1902).
A W Light, Bunhill Fields (London, 1915).
Charles Wallace, jun., 'Wesley , Susanna (1669-1742)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/66878, accessed 19 Jan 2010]

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The monument to Susanna Wesley is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Despite being a replica of 1936, the headstone records the burial place of Susanna Wesley, a noted educator and theological writer who is most famous for having been the mother of John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism.
* The headstone is a focus of remembrance for Methodists internationally.
* It is located within the Grade I registered Bunhill Fields Burial Ground (q.v.), and has group value with the other listed monuments in the south enclosure.

Reasons for Listing

DCMS agree- list at Grade II.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27087461

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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