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Bunhill Fields Burial Ground
Right now, you're standing on what was once a massive pile of BONES! Back in 1549, workers hauled over 1000 cartloads of old bones from St Paul's Cathedral and dumped them right here, creating a spooky hill so tall they built three windmills on top of it. Today, this 4-acre garden holds an incredible 123,000 bodies - that's like squeezing your entire city into four football fields! Famous rebels and rule-breakers are buried beneath your feet, including the guy who wrote Robinson Crusoe and the artist William Blake. These weren't ordinary people - they were religious rebels who couldn't be buried in regular church graveyards, so they created their own secret resting place just outside London's city walls from 1665 to 1854.
Did You Know?
- Fact 1: Bunhill Fields Burial Ground is known as London’s 'Dissenter’s Acre'—its origins as a nonconformist cemetery date to 1665 when it was set aside for those outside the Church of England, becoming the final resting place for over 120,000 people, including famous radicals, writers, and thinkers such as John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, William Blake, and Isaac Watts. This made it a unique place of burial for those who challenged the religious and social norms of their time.
- Fact 2: The name 'Bunhill' comes from 'Bone Hill'—in the 1550s, more than 1,000 cartloads of bones from St Paul’s Cathedral’s charnel house were dumped here, creating a literal hill of bones so high that windmills were later built on top of it. The macabre mound became a landmark before being leveled and transformed into a burial ground, blending London’s medieval and early modern history in one unusual site.
- Fact 3: Bunhill Fields is famous for its 'lost grave' mystery—William Blake, the visionary poet and artist, was buried here in 1827, but during World War II bomb damage and later landscaping, the exact location of his grave was lost. After years of detective work by historians, a memorial stone now marks the spot believed to be closest to his actual resting place, making it a fascinating destination for literary pilgrims and history detectives.