Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 Location  





2 History and setting  





3 Graves  



3.1  West Side  



3.1.1  Notable West Side interments  







3.2  East Side  



3.2.1  Notable East side interments  







3.3  War graves  







4 In popular culture  





5 Gallery  





6 References  





7 External links  














Highgate Cemetery






Afrikaans
العربية
Azərbaycanca
 / Bân-lâm-gú
Brezhoneg
Català
Čeština
Deutsch
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
فارسی
Français
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
Magyar

Nederlands

Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Suomi
Svenska
Türkçe
Українська
Tiếng Vit

 

Edit links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 




In other projects  



Wikimedia Commons
 
















Appearance
   

 





Coordinates: 51°3401N 0°0849W / 51.567°N 0.147°W / 51.567; -0.147
 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery (East) (c. 2010)
Map
Details
Established1839; 185 years ago (1839)
Location
Swain's Lane, London, N6 6PJ
CountryEngland
Coordinates51°34′01N 0°08′49W / 51.567°N 0.147°W / 51.567; -0.147
Owned byFriends of Highgate Cemetery Trust
Size15 hectares (37 acres)
No. of graves53,000+
No. of interments170,000
Websitewww.highgatecemetery.org
Find a GraveEast, West

Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary.[1] There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides.[2] Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as well as for its de facto status as a nature reserve. The Cemetery is designated Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[3]

Location[edit]

The cemetery is in Highgate N6, next to Waterlow Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It comprises two sides, on either side of Swains Lane. The main gate is on Swains Lane, just north of Oakshott Avenue. There is another, disused, gate on Chester Road. The nearest public transport (Transport for London) is the C11 bus, Brookfield Park stop, and Archway tube station.

History and setting[edit]

Tombs near the Circle of Lebanon crypts at Highgate Cemetery West, London.

The cemetery in its original form – the northwestern wooded area – opened in 1839, as part of a plan to provide seven large, modern cemeteries, now known as the "Magnificent Seven", around the outside of central London. The inner-city cemeteries, mostly the graveyards attached to individual churches, had long been unable to cope with the number of burials and were seen as a hazard to health and an undignified way to treat the dead. The initial design was by architect and entrepreneur Stephen Geary.

On Monday 20 May 1839, Highgate (West) Cemetery was dedicated to St. James[4] by the Right Reverend Charles James Blomfield, Lord Bishop of London. 15 acres (6.1 ha) were consecrated for the use of the Church of England, and two acres were set aside for dissenters. Rights of burial were sold either for a limited period or in perpetuity. The first burial was Elizabeth Jackson of Little Windmill Street, Soho, on 26 May.

Highgate, like the others of the Magnificent Seven, soon became a fashionable place for burials and was much admired and visited. The Victorian attitude to death and its presentation[clarification needed] led to the creation of a wealth of Gothic tombs and buildings. It occupies a spectacular south-facing hillside site slightly downhill from the top of Highgate hill, next to Waterlow Park. In 1854 a further 19 acres (8 ha) to the south east of the original area, across Swains Lane, was bought to form the eastern extension; this opened in 1860. Both sides of the Cemetery are still used today for burials.

The cemetery's grounds are full of trees, shrubbery, and wildflowers, most of which have been planted and grown without human influence.[citation needed][clarification needed] The grounds are a haven for birds and small animals, such as foxes. The cemetery is now owned and maintained by a charitable trust, the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust, which was set up in 1975 and acquired the freehold of both East and West sides by 1981. In 1984 it published Highgate Cemetery: Victorian ValhallabyJohn Gay.[5]

Graves[edit]

West Side[edit]

Entrance to the Egyptian Avenue, Highgate Cemetery West
Circle of Lebanon, Highgate Cemetery West

The Egyptian Avenue and the Circle of Lebanon (previously surmounted by a huge, 280 years old Cedar of Lebanon, which had to be cut down and replaced in August 2019) are both Grade I listed buildings. The west side of the Cemetery is characterised by elaborate feature tombs, vaults and winding paths dug into hillsides. At the highest point, the Terrace Catacombs and the Tomb of Julius Beer are both Grade II* listed.

Notable West Side interments[edit]

East Side[edit]

Tomb of Karl Marx, East Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery East (2010)
The grave of Caroline Tucker, Highgate Cemetery East
Highgate Cemetery East (2023)

Many famous or prominent people are buried on this side of Highgate cemetery; the most famous of which is arguably that of Karl Marx, whose tomb was the site of attempted bombings on 2 September 1965[8] and in 1970.[9] The tomb of Karl Marx is also a Grade I listed building for reasons of historical importance. Fireman's corner is a monument erected in the East side by widows and orphans of members of the London Fire Brigade in 1934. There are 97 firemen buried here. The monument is cared for by the Brigade's Welfare Section.

Notable East side interments[edit]

War graves[edit]

The cemetery contains the graves of 318 Commonwealth service personnel maintained and registered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, in both the East and West sides, 259 from the First World War and 59 from the Second. Those whose graves could not be marked by headstones are listed on a Screen Wall memorial erected near the Cross of Sacrifice in the west side.[12]

In popular culture[edit]

Highgate Cemetery was featured in the popular media from the 1960s to the late 1980s for its so-called occult past, particularly as being the alleged site of the "Highgate Vampire".

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Now More Than Ever, London Needs a 'Death Pyramid'". Bloomberg News. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2023. Why the city should revive a 19th-century plan for an uptown necropolis, population 5 million.
  • ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Highgate Cemetery. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  • ^ Historic England. "Highgate Cemetery (1000810)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  • ^ "History". Highgate Cemetery. Archived from the original on 24 January 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  • ^ "A Brief History of Highgate Cemetery", www.highgate-cemetery.org
  • ^ GRO Register of Deaths: JUN qtr 1861 1a 174 St Geo Han Sq – Henry Gray
  • ^ "DServe Archive Persons Show". .royalsociety.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  • ^ News
  • ^ "Tomb raiders' failed attack on Marx grave", Camden New Journal, UK, archived from the original on 11 June 2019, retrieved 30 April 2008
  • ^ "Farewell to YPG's Mehmet Aksoy in London". ANF. 11 November 2017.
  • ^ Davis, Angela (20 June 2019). "Angela Davis praises CPUSA for its history "of militant struggle"". PeoplesWorld.org. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  • ^ "Cemetery Details: Highgate Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  • ^ Niffenegger, Audrey (3 October 2009). "Audrey Niffenegger on Highgate Cemetery". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
  • External links[edit]

    Media related to Highgate Cemetery at Wikimedia Commons


    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Highgate_Cemetery&oldid=1231807641"

    Categories: 
    1839 establishments in England
    Anglican cemeteries in the United Kingdom
    Burials at Highgate Cemetery
    Cemeteries in London
    Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England
    Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden
    Grade I listed monuments and memorials
    Grade I listed parks and gardens in London
    Highgate
    Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Camden
    Hidden categories: 
    Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
    Articles with short description
    Short description is different from Wikidata
    Use dmy dates from May 2015
    Coordinates on Wikidata
    Wikipedia articles needing clarification from September 2022
    All articles with unsourced statements
    Articles with unsourced statements from March 2024
    Articles with unsourced statements from May 2023
    Commons category link from Wikidata
    Articles with VIAF identifiers
    Articles with J9U identifiers
    Articles with LCCN identifiers
    Pages using the Kartographer extension
     



    This page was last edited on 30 June 2024, at 11:03 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



    Privacy policy

    About Wikipedia

    Disclaimers

    Contact Wikipedia

    Code of Conduct

    Developers

    Statistics

    Cookie statement

    Mobile view



    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki