Highgate Cemetery: North London's Necropolis

Perhaps one of the more unusual historic destinations, Highgate Cemetery is a famous burial site in North London, known for its extravagant Victorian funerary architecture and as the final resting place for many significant people, including Karl Marx, Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), Christina Rossetti, Douglas Adams, & Michael Faraday. Although going to a cemetery seems like an odd thing to do, Highgate Cemetery is an interesting place for a stroll. 

The Circle of Lebanon

East and West 

A blunt headstone reading 'DEAD' is one of the first graves to catch my eye. It sits among a sea of stone slabs inscribed with things like ‘simply sleeping’ & ‘closed their eyes’. It belongs to pop artist Patrick Caulfield, who designed the headstone himself, I think with intentional darkly comic humour. He clearly did not want to beat around the bush.

This particular headstone resides in the East Cemetery, which most notably contains Karl Marx's grave. In itself this is something to behold: a statue of Marx's head resting on top of a huge monument. A very literal headstone. 

Patrick Caulfield

Karl Marx

Highgate Cemetery was first opened in 1839 and is one of seven significant cemeteries in London. Many of its structures are listed due to their historical significance. It is split into two sections and a ticket is required for both (think of it as more of a private museum than a public park). The ticketing system is a bit confusing but essentially, there are two options:
  1. East side only 
  2. East and West
I would recommend a visit to both anyway. There are many significant individual's in the East Cemetery (such as those mentioned above), but most of the interesting architecture is in the West. 

Egyptian Avenue

Ancient Egypt in North London?

The West side reflects the Victorians' obsession with the ancient Egyptians. Pictured here is the ‘Egyptian Avenue’, which leads to ‘Circle of Lebanon’ (yes, it is slightly creepy). 

Another significant grave marker on the West side is of the famous bareknuckle boxer Tom Sayer, whose loyal dog (chief mourner at his master's funeral) is shown in stone-form at his grave site. Other graves are covered with tangled ivy, and huge, twisting tree roots have grown around many of the ancient headstones.

Tom Sawyer and his loyal canine, Lion


In previous years, a trip to the West Cemetery was permitted only with a tour guide, but this summer they are experimenting with a limited number of 'free-range' visits on Saturdays and Sundays only. Volunteers are still on hand to provide snippets of history - explaining the 19th Century obsession with ancient Egypt and the significance of grave robbers in Victorian London. 

It is of course still a graveyard, so respectfulness is absolutely necessary, as well as sticking to the path of the very old, and in some places, crumbling, West Cemetery in order to protect the heritage. 



Sources


A lot of the information here is also from the volunteers.