Latitude: 51.5233 / 51°31'23"N
Longitude: -0.0882 / 0°5'17"W
OS Eastings: 532729
OS Northings: 182215
OS Grid: TQ327822
Mapcode National: GBR S8.B4
Mapcode Global: VHGQT.FZ74
Plus Code: 9C3XGWF6+8P
Entry Name: Chest Tomb with Memento Mori Carving, South Enclosure
Listing Date: 21 February 2011
Grade: II
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1396540
English Heritage Legacy ID: 508635
ID on this website: 101396540
Location: Shoreditch, Islington, London, EC1Y
County: London
District: Islington
Electoral Ward/Division: Bunhill
Parish: Non Civil Parish
Built-Up Area: Islington
Traditional County: Middlesex
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Greater London
Church of England Parish: St Giles Cripplegate
Church of England Diocese: London
Tagged with: Chest tomb
635-1/0/10266 BUNHILL FIELDS BURIAL GROUND
21-FEB-11 Chest tomb with memento mori carving,
South enclosure
GV II
Chest tomb, late C17 or early C18
LOCATION: 532728.8, 182214.4
MATERIALS: Portland stone with darker (probably Pennant) stone top
DESCRIPTION: The monument takes the form of a stone chest with a moulded top and base and bulbous corner balusters. The side and end panels bear relief carvings of skulls and crossed bones, which are known as 'momento mori', or reminders of death and mortality.
HISTORY: 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).
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: This monument is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a substantial early chest tomb bearing extensive memento mori carving.
* It is located within the Grade I registered Bunhill Fields Burial Ground (q.v.), and has group value with the other listed tombs in the south enclosure.
This monument is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a substantial early chest tomb bearing extensive memento mori carving.
* It is located within the Grade I registered Bunhill Fields Burial Ground (q.v.), and has group value with the other listed tombs in the south enclosure.
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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