Editing Bunhill Fields (section)

==Opening as a burial ground==
[[File:Mary Page monument 2.JPG|thumb|right|Monument of [[Sir Gregory Page, 1st Baronet|Dame Mary Page]] (died 1729). The inscription reads in part: "In 67 months she was tap'd [tapped] 66 times, Had taken away 240 gallons of water without ever repining at her case or ever fearing the operation."]]
[[File:Monument To Theophilus Gale, South Enclosure.jpg|thumb|right|Monument to Theophilus Gale, South Enclosure.]]

In keeping with this tradition, in 1665 the City of London Corporation decided to use some of the land as a common burial ground for the interment of bodies of inhabitants who had died of the [[Great Plague of London|plague]] and could not be accommodated in the churchyards. Outer walls were completed but Church of England officials never consecrated the ground nor used it for burials. A Mr. Tindal took over the lease.

He allowed extramural graveyard burials in what was unconsecrated soil, thus popular with [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformists]]—those [[Protestantism|Protestant Christians]] who practised their faiths outside the [[Church of England]]; unlike [[Church of England parish church|Anglican churchyards]] it was open for interment to anyone who could afford the fees. It appears on [[John Rocque's Map of London, 1746|Rocque's Map of London]] of 1746, and elsewhere, as "Tindal's Burying Ground".

An inscription at the eastern entrance gate to the burial ground reads:

{{quote|This church-yard was inclosed with a brick wall at the sole charges of the City of London, in the mayoralty of [[John Lawrence (Lord Mayor)|Sir John Lawrence]], {{Abbreviation|Knt.|Knight}}, Anno Domini 1665; and afterwards the gates thereof were built and finished in the mayoralty of [[Thomas Bloodworth|Sir Thomas Bloudworth]], Knt., Anno Domini, 1666.}}

The present gates and inscription date from 1868, but the wording follows that of an original 17th-century inscription at the western entrance, now lost.<ref name="nhle"/>

The earliest recorded monumental inscription was that to "Grace, daughter of T. Cloudesly, of Leeds. February 1666".<ref>William Maitland, ''The History and Survey of London from its Foundation to the Present Time'' (London, 1756), p. 775</ref> The earliest surviving monument is believed to be the [[headstone]] to [[Theophilus Gale]]: the inscription reads "Theophilus Gale MA / Born 1628 / Died 1678".<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1396557 |desc=Monument to Theophilus Gale, South Enclosure |access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref>

In 1769 an act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Prebendary of St. Paul London (Leasing) Act 1769}}''' ([[9 Geo. 3]]. c. ''61'' {{small|Pr.}}), gave the corporation the right to continue the lease for 99 years. The City authorities continued to let the ground to their tenant as a burial ground; in 1781 the corporation decided to take over management of the burial ground.

So many historically important Protestant nonconformists chose this as their place of interment that the 19th-century poet and writer [[Robert Southey]] characterised Bunhill Fields in 1830 as the ground "which the Dissenters regard as their [[Campo Santo (disambiguation)|Campo Santo]]".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/pilgrimsprogres00soutgoog#page/n90/mode/2up |title=The Pilgrim's Progress: with a life of John Bunyan |publisher=John Murray and John Major |year=1830 |editor-last=Southey |editor-first=Robert |editor-link=Robert Southey |location=London |page=lxxxi}}</ref> This term was applied to its "daughter", [[Abney Park Cemetery]] in [[Stoke Newington]].

[[File:Bunhill Fields - geograph.org.uk - 805763.jpg|thumb|left|Monuments in Bunhill Fields]]