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Highgate Cemetery
This cemetery is busier today than it was 150 years ago. While Highgate's Victorian residents lie peacefully in their Gothic tombs, thousands of visitors now trek up Swain's Lane every year to visit what's become London's most famous grave. Back in 1839, when this became one of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries ringing London, nobody expected a German revolutionary to become the main attraction. Karl Marx was originally buried in a humble plot after his 1883 funeral with just eleven mourners present. But by 1954, his remains were moved to this prominent spot you see now, complete with that imposing bronze bust designed by Laurence Bradshaw. Here's what locals know - the cemetery's serpentine pathways weren't just Victorian whimsy. They were deliberately designed to wind around the ancient trees from William Ashurst's estate, the former Lord Mayor whose mansion once stood where you're walking. Those towering specimens made this one of London's most scenic burial grounds, and they're still here, creating natural cathedral spaces between the weathered angels and crumbling mausoleums. The Eastern section across the lane holds writers like George Eliot, while the original Western side showcases the elaborate Egyptian Revival sepulchres that made Victorian London gasp with delight.
Did You Know?
- Highgate Cemetery is one of London’s 'Magnificent Seven' cemeteries, created in 1839 to solve a public health crisis—inner-city graveyards were dangerously overcrowded due to London’s exploding population and frequent disease outbreaks, leading to the establishment of grand, garden-style cemeteries on the city’s outskirts where burial could be both dignified and sanitary.
- Designed by architect Stephen Geary, the cemetery is famous for its dramatic Victorian Gothic and Egyptian-inspired monuments, including a full-scale replica of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) built for Julius Beer, a 19th-century financier and newspaper proprietor. The winding paths, catacombs, and rows of stone angels create a labyrinthine, otherworldly atmosphere that has inspired artists, writers, and filmmakers for generations.
- Beyond its famous residents like Karl Marx and George Eliot, Highgate Cemetery has become an accidental nature reserve, with overgrown trees, wildflowers, and wildlife such as foxes and birds thriving among the graves—making it a surprising haven for urban biodiversity and a peaceful escape from the city, as well as a hotspot for ghost stories and vampire legends that continue to attract curious visitors and families interested in London’s spookier side.