Latitude: 51.5234 / 51°31'24"N
Longitude: -0.0875 / 0°5'15"W
OS Eastings: 532777
OS Northings: 182232
OS Grid: TQ327822
Mapcode National: GBR S8.H2
Mapcode Global: VHGQT.FZL1
Plus Code: 9C3XGWF6+9X
Entry Name: Group of Nine Chest Tombs Including Tomb of John Guyse, South Enclosure
Listing Date: 21 February 2011
Grade: II
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1396555
English Heritage Legacy ID: 508639
ID on this website: 101396555
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
635-1/0/10270 BUNHILL FIELDS BURIAL GROUND
21-FEB-11 Group of nine chest tombs including to
mb of John Guyse, South enclosure
GV II
Group of nine chest tombs including tomb of John Guyse, late C18 and early C19
LOCATION: 532782.4, 182228.9 (start); 532776, 182243.9 (end)
MATERIALS: Portland stone with Pennant stone, sandstone and brick
DESCRIPTION: Nine chest tombs form a long row alongside the eastern boundary of the site, between the central pathway and the wall of the Honourable Artillery Company Ground. From north to south they are as follows:
#1: Stone chest with brick plinth and corner pilasters; inscription identifies it as the family vault of William Pyne (d.1804).
#2: Stone chest on raised plinth with fielded side and end panels; illegible.
#3: Stone chest with fielded side panels, moulded Pennant stone lid and small upright footstone; illegible, but known to be the burial place of the Independent minister John Guyse.
#4: Stone chest with sandstone plinth and fielded side panels; inscriptions commemorate Daniel Renney, 'late of the parish of St Leonard's, Shoreditch', and various members of the Bass family including William Francis (d.1795).
#5: Stone chest with fielded side and end panels; illegible.
#6: Stone chest with corner balusters and moulded Pennant stone lid; illegible.
#7: Stone chest with fielded side and end panels; illegible.
#8: Stone chest on raised plinth with fielded side and end panels; illegible.
#9: Stone chest on raised plinth with fluted corner pilasters and high coped top; inscription commemorates William Hale (d.1808) and various members of his family.
HISTORY: John Guyse (c.1677-1761) was baptised in St Albans and educated at Dissenting academies at Pinner and Saffron Walden. He began to preach at the age of 19, eventually becoming assistant minister at a chapel in Hertford before moving to London in 1727 to preside over a newly-formed congregation at New Broad Street. A conservative Calvinist, he published pamphlets attacking Arianism as well as a number of sermons and biblical commentaries.
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).
Edwin Cannan, rev. Stephen C. Orchard, entry on Guyse in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, www.oxforddnb.com (retrieved on 9 June 2009).
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The nine chest tombs are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* They form a coherent group of late-C18 and early-C19 chest tombs in a prominent site at the eastern entrance to the cemetery.
* One of the tombs commemorates John Guyse, a prominent Independent minister of the mid-C18.
* They are located within the Grade I registered Bunhill Fields Burial Ground (q.v.), within which they form a prominent landmark.
The nine chest tombs are recommended for listing at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* They form a coherent group of late-C18 and early-C19 chest tombs in a prominent site at the eastern entrance to the cemetery.
* One of the tombs commemorates John Guyse, a prominent Independent minister of the mid-C18.
* They are located within the Grade I registered Bunhill Fields Burial Ground (q.v.), within which they form a prominent landmark.
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