Connection with Karl Marx
Highgate Cemetery primarily draws tourists due to the presence of Karl Marx, the renowned political philosopher and revolutionary socialist, buried within its grounds. Additionally, other notable figures such as Patrick Caulfield (Pop artist), Anna Mahler (sculptor), and Malcolm McLaren (founder of the Sex Pistols) can also be found interred here.
Given our limited budget and time constraints, we were only able to visit Highgate Cemetery this year. However, the “Magnificent Seven cemeteries,” which include Kensal Green, West Norwood, Abney Park, Nunhead, and Tower Hamlets, remain on our list of places to visit in the future.
Highgate Cemetery opens daily from 10:00-17:00 (4pm close from November – February). Closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The entry ticket is £4.5 for East Cemetery or £10 for both cemeteries.
East and West Cemeteries
The East Cemetery is more popular because of those famous people while the West Cemetery is rather quieter. However, the West Cemetery has the Terrace Catacombs, which are really impressive. Ian Douglas Nairn, a British architectural critic described Highgate West Cemetery in his Nairn’s London (1966) as,
“There are better reasons for going here than to look at the grave of Karl Marx. This is the creepiest place in London; no Dickensian stretch of the river can match this calculated exercise in stucco horror, now itself decomposing. The entrance is well downhill in Swains Lane, and at first the landscape is ordinary. But as you wind up the hill it becomes more and more overgrown, choked in winter by dead fronds with an unnerving resemblance to Spanish moss. The landscape looks less and less like London, more and more like Louisiana…. Nothing seems real but death at its greyest and clammiest. The cemetery closes well before dark, and a good job too.” (geograph.org.uk – TQ2887)
The Terrace Catacombs are built on the hill but they can be accessed at ground level. Although the West Cemetery allows self-guided tours, the Terrace Catacombs are only for visitors on guided tours. However, its official website provides an introduction to catacombs inside,
“These brick catacombs with a cast-iron traceried terrace balustrade were part of the original buildings of the cemetery in 1838-9.
Inside, there is a brick-vaulted gallery more than 80 yards long, lit by oculi set in the terrace. It is lined with separate recesses, each large enough to take a single coffin end on, from floor to ceiling down both sides of length, 825 in all”.
The Victorian Obsession with Death
Among our interviewees, a French couple caught our attention due to their interests in the connection between Père Lachaise Cemetery in France and the Victorian era’s obsession with Death.
As an outsider, I am aware that Queen Victoria developed a preoccupation with death following the passing of Prince Albert. I wondered if there was a link between Queen Victoria’s personal obsession and the broader Victorian society’s fascination with death. To explore this further, I discovered Stephanie Carroll’s blog, which provides a comprehensive understanding of “Why were Victorians obsessed with Death?” Tara Heimberger has also published one article “The Victorian Obsession with Death”, which delves into various reasons behind this phenomenon. One such reason is the influence of literature, particularly the popularity of Penny Bloods in the 1830s, which played a significant role in shaping the cultural perception of death. The British Library also offers insights into the phenomenon of “Penny dreadful” and their inexpensive yet widespread appeal among the Victorian public as a publishing phenomenon of the 19th century.
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