London: Highgate Cemetery

One of my must-see attractions in London was Highgate Cemetery.  Despite living in London for 6 months and visiting on many occasions I have never been there before.  There are many places I still have visited in London (Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, London Zoo, the Foundling Museum, the Charles Dickens Museum and the Sir John Soames Museum) but did not have time for everything on this visit.  I never do!  I was pleased with my choice of the beautiful Highgate Cemetery this time, though was less happy with the rainy weather.

 

We took the tube to Archway Station, got a bus two stops up Highgate Road and walked through the park to the cemetery gates.  The gates to the East and West Cemeteries are quite close together once you leave the park.  Even the park (above photo) is lovely.

Sylvia decided she was too wet and tired to walk around the cemetery and waited for me for over an hour in the gatehouse.  Not this grand Victorian gatehouse in the photo.  She stayed in the tiny - but warm and dry - gift shop next to the ticket window in the East Cemetery.  Apparently she had a nice chat to the woman on the ticket window.

The West Cemetery is billed as the star of the show.  It is where the Victorian graves are.  Lots of spooky neglected old graves , many set high with angels and crosses, and most covered in green mould and ivory. 

I was a bit stressed here as we had left our hotel later than intended and then Sylvia had wet her t-shirt falling over on Highgate Road so we had less than an hour before our booking at the nearby cat cafe.  I had left a voicemail but it was already approaching lunchtime which I know is their busy time.  The cemetery tours are 75 minutes which we had decided not to do, but even so a good hour or two is recommended for the Cemetery.

So I rushed around, admiring the graves but not stopping to read as many epitaphs as I would have liked.

This gorgeous tunnel was so atmospheric but I did not have time to find out what it was.

As you can see with this rather weathered grave, many were difficult to read due to the effects of over 100 years of wearing away in the wind and rain.

As I was about to rush back from the West Cemetery, I got a call from the cat cafe changing our booking to a later time.  It was a relief.  I would have loved to have spent much more time than 30 minutes in this area but wanted to check in on Sylvia and decided to go over to the East side.

Sylvia was quite happy in the giftshop so I went walking around the loop at the East Cemetery.  I had another 30 minutes there but felt a bit more relaxed.  The West side is billed as amazing and the East side seems more modern with the bonus of Karl Marx's grave.  Having looked at both, I think the at the East has a lot of beauty and interest as well.

I saw more well known names in the East cemetery.  This is Douglas Adams grave with lots of pens left as well as a little rock with 42 painted on it.  Quite a lovely tribute to the writer best known for The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.  There were quite a few creative's graves here.  I also saw writer Beryl Bainbridge's grave and fold musician Bert Jansch's grave but did not find the final resting places of Sidney Nolan, George Michael and George Eliot.

I took the above photo because I loved the little grave that was decorated like a Penguin novel.  I don't know who Jim Stanford Horn was but it looked like he was a book lover!

The most famous grave at Highgate Cemetery is Karl Marx.  The man whose thinking about workers rights launched many revolutions, or something along those lines.  His grave reads "Workers of all lands unite" and "The philosophers have only interpreted the various ways; the point however is to change it."  His stare is quite fierce and he reminds me of my biblical studies teacher in high school .

Even on the East side most of the graves are quite old and weathered.  Occasionally I was surprised by a more modern grave such as this one of London post-war artist Patrick Caulfield who designed his own grave with the unusual epitah: dead!

This beautiful grave of Caroline Tucker who died in 1994 is more in the style of the older graves, though is noticeable for all the lovely flowers around it.  We were a bit early for the daffodils on some of the West side graves.

Some of the epitahs made me stop and think.  This one made me sad with a great grief expressed as a struggle with belief:

"All must be right
which seems most wrong
if it be our Heavenly Father's
own sweet will"

Another from Elise Rebecca Stewart's grave in 1996 simply said "we'd walk a million miles for one of mum's smiles".  Such a lovely epitah!

I was struck by the gendered nature of these epitah's.  Mrs Sarah Pulham who "departed this life" in 1871 with the domestic verse from proverbs: "she looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth of the bread of idleness" is odd.  I could not work out if idleness was perhaps a good thing.  Meanwhile her husband, Samuel Pulham who died in 1875 had a far more spiritual epitah of "they word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."  It seems very Mary and Martha!

Malcolm McLaren, fashion designer and punk music producer had a fascinating and bold life.  His epitah is suitably challenging: "Better a spectacular failure than a benign success."

This was one of the more thoughtful angels I saw.

Even in the East side, there were signs of decay in the graveyard such as this grave that seemed quite wonky, perhaps due to tree roots.

And here is one more grave with trailing ivy.

Finally, the sight of row upon row of graves was more common the East than the West side.

Then I met up with Sylvia and we walked back through the lovely park to the bus stop.  As we walked we laughed at squirrels playfully chasing each other around a large tree trunk and swans calling (or honking) to one another in the little stream.  It was refreshing to enjoy a patch of greenery and wild life in the big city of London.