Bunhill Fields Burial Ground

"Just minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Old Street and City Road, the green space of Bunhill Cemetery offers a sanctuary of calm. This beautiful yet small graveyard is amazingly the resting place for an estimated 120,000 bodies including William Blake and Daniel Defoe. It’s also home to some extremely tame and well fed squirrels who won’t be afraid to ask you for food." - DesignStudio

"Set ominously atop an ancient Saxon burial ground, Bunhill Fields (derived from the rather more morbid “bone hill”) became popular in 1549 when carts of bodies arrived in their thousands from the overflowing charnel house at St. Paul’s. Even prior to earning its grim name, the site had a history of combat. It remains the home of the Honourable Artillery Company, on land granted in the 15th century, leading on from the prior usage of Bunhill Fields as a spot for archery practice. However, not all of the land’s past was quite so morbid. John Milton penned Paradise Lost near the field and soon after, in 1666, it served as a lifesaver for the many made homeless by the Great Fire of London, who gathered there in an impromptu camp. Historic ambiguity over whether the land is consecrated or not has led to it being regarded as a burial place for conscientious and dissenting personalities, including men of letters – John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, and Dr. Isaac Watts were all interred here. As was William Blake, one of England’s most recognized poets. He was buried in a nineteen-shilling grave that has been lost to time. Make sure to look out for his latterly placed memorial headstone, which, although no longer resting above him, marks an important pilgrimage destination for lovers of language everywhere." - ATLAS_OBSCURA

"Bunhill Fields Cemetery, Barbican Old Street. Just minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Old Street and City Road, the green space of Bunhill Cemetery offers a sanctuary of calm. This beautiful yet small graveyard is amazingly the resting place for an estimated 120,000 bodies including William Blake and Daniel Defoe. It’s also home to some extremely tame and well fed squirrels who won’t be afraid to ask you for food."