Closure As A Burial Ground
In 1852 the Burial Act was passed which enabled places such as Bunhill Fields to be closed once they became full. Its Order for closure was made in December 1853 and the final burial (Elizabeth Howell Oliver) took place on January 5, 1854. By this date approximately 120,000 interments had taken place.
Two decades before its closure, a group of City nonconformists led by George Collison, secured a site for a new landscaped alternative – in Stoke Newington. This was named Abney Park Cemetery, and opened in 1840. Here too all parts were to be made available for the burial of any person, regardless of religious creed, making Abney Park Cemetery the only Victorian garden cemetery in Britain with "no invidious dividing lines" and a unique nondenominational chapel (see the architecture of William Hosking).
The neighbouring Nonconformists' ground, the Quaker Burying Ground, was also closed for burials in 1855.
Read more about this topic: Bunhill Fields
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