I have to admit that I’m feeling like a stranger in my own city!
It truly is a disconcerting experience for any north Londoner to be let loose in another part of the capital, since we are so ‘neighbourhoody’. In my case, it’s the East. Shoreditch, to be precise, that has left me nervous.
To be fair, even at the best of times, I don’t have a good directional sense (it’s quite amazing I managed to survive all my world travels, when you come to think of it) and now, as I step out of the apartment I’m staying in, close to Old Street tube, I’m struggling hopelessly, like someone who’s just rocked up in the Smoke…
‘Always Late.’
To make matters more complex, I’ve arrived in England with a foreigh SIM and seem to have no internet access on my phone, which means I can’t cheat and use ‘Google Maps.’ Of course, this makes for a far more interesting wander (and a longer one too, since I’m getting lost every 5 minutes).
So far, with the help of signposts and helpful people on the street, I’ve managed to stroll in the direction of Columbia Road and the gorgeous flower market, the back streets of the East End’s old Jewish community and City Road (which took me all the way down to the Angel Islington).
What, now, will I find, I wonder? Unbelievably, a cemetery - and on my very doorstep.
Sign at the entrance to Bunhill Fields.
Yes, it goes by the name of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, which I literally stumble into (I’m trying to break in a pair of new ankle boots, and they’ve made me rather less steady on my feet), whilst I’m out looking for coffee.
And, of course, I’ve never heard of it - it’s not up there with the rocks stars of the London cemetery scene - Highgate, Brompton, Kensal Rise.
But here it is, an oasis of calm in next to the ‘Silicon Valley roundabout’ of Old Street and a short walk from the City Square Mile.
It’s not large - about 1.6 hectares apparently - and it’s actually the remains of a former burial ground, which means no funerals take place here now. Actually, today it’s more of a public garden, with many of the graves on railed off, but there’s a central walkway through which one can walk - either for a stroll, as a shortcut on the way to work or - as I later learn - as a pilgrimage sight, for certain famous persons who lie here.
If you don’t believe how charming it is, take a look at the video…
Later, I will learn that it was first used in 1665 and remained open until 1854; in this time period historians estimate that 123,000 people (approximately) were buried here. By the time it was closed, it was actually considered to be a health hazard! The name ‘Bunhill’ is derived from ‘Bone Hill’ Fields - archaeologists have discovered that the area was used to bury the dead as far back as Saxon times.
Gravestones dating back to the time of the Great Plague
But what makes Bunhill particularly interesting, in my eyes anyway, is that it was the favoured resting place of religious non-conformists, particularly Quakers. ‘Dissenters’ (of different backgrounds) were buried here because the ground was unconsecrated.
Bunhill’s three most notable residents include John Bunyan (author of ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’) Daniel Defoe (who penned the marvellous ‘Robinson Crusoe’) and William Blake, one of the great Romantic poets (‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ is something I’ve read over and over again).
Blake, in fact, was a committed Christian but had no time for organised religion (which, of course, included the Church of England).
An admirer of the ideals of the American and French revolutions, on his death he left behind some unfinished watercolour illustrations (in fact, for his fellow restee, John Bunyan’s, ‘Pilgrim’s Progress).
He also left behind an illuminated manuscript (complete with border flourishes and miniature illustrations) of the Bible’s Book of Genesis.
Tombstone of John Bunyan
As I amble through the ‘broadwalk’ I can hear birds chirping and smell the fragrance of honeysuckle and roses. There’s a steady of stream of people passing through - jogging as well as walking, some alone (lost in thought, like myself) and others with friends and colleagues, sometimes in animated conversation. Next to Bunyan’s monument I see a woman on a bench, staring at her phone.
I wonder if she’s ever thought about these surroundings, given a moment to the history that surrounds her, or whether it’s just another random bench on which she can sit and scroll, or check her for her social media feed.
Scroller on a bench
I wonder if she has ever read Songs of Innocence and Experience?
From Saxon tumuli (burial mounds) to plagues and from poets, artists and writers to social media addicts, Bunhill really has seen it all!