Mayor of Islington Councillor Gary Heather with artist Georgie Fay (third from right) and other community leaders

IS it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a piece of artwork hanging in the trees, unveiled by mayor Gary Heather.

The unveiling last Thursday at Bunhill Fields Burial Ground – the final resting place of poet William Blake – coincided with the end of the first year of a three-year scheme called the Bunhill Heritage Project, which aims to explore and celebrate the area’s rich cultural history through art and community participation.

Artist Georgie Fay, who created the artwork with children at St Luke’s Primary and City of London Primary Academy Islington, alongside users of St Luke’s Community Centre, described the project as “a special experience in my life”.

She said: “I felt so fortunate to create this work of community art in Bunhill Fields. Throughout the project, I met so many people, old and young, who helped inform the work.

“Having a studio space at the incredible St Luke’s Community Centre, I really felt like I was at the heart of Bunhill.”

Over the next two years, metalworker and Bunhill artist-in-residence Jacky Oliver and sound artist Jamie Turner will continue to create pieces around the theme of the history of Bunhill, while further walking and talking projects will take place.

Other remarkable historical figures buried at Bunhill Fields include writers Daniel Defoe and John Bunyan, alongside prolific hymn writer Isaac Watts.

The headstones to many other leading intellectuals, radicals and clergy from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries can also be found there.