Highgate Cemetery

Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA · EN · 04/10/2026

Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there either in coffins or urns 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.

Location

The cemetery is in Highgate N6, next to Waterlow Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It comprises two sides, on either side of Swain's Lane. The main gate is on Swain's 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

The cemetery in its original formthe northwestern wooded areaopened in 1839 by the London Cemetery Company, 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. The London Cemetery Company was incorporated by the London Cemetery Company Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will. 4. c. cxxxvi).

On 20 May 1839, Highgate (West) Cemetery was dedicated to St James by the Right Reverend Charles James Blomfield, Lord Bishop of London. 15 acres 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 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 Swain's Lane, were 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. The grounds are a haven for birds and small mammals, such as foxes. The London Cemetery Company became bankrupt in 1960, and was absorbed by the United Cemetery Company. 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 Valhalla by John Gay. The trust was given updated powers to manage the cemetery and extinguish rights of burial by the (c. i).

Graves

West Side

The Egyptian Avenue and the Circle of Lebanon (previously surmounted by a huge, 280-year-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 Julius Beer Mausoleum are both Grade II* listed. In 1967 the Dissenter's Catacombs were declared unsafe and demolished. Three houses were subsequently built on the site. The Grey House, built in 2008, is visible from the West Side of the cemetery on Faraday Path.

Notable West Side interments

Henry Alken (1785–1851), painter, engraver and illustrator of sporting and coaching scenes

Jane Arden, Welsh-born film director, actress, screenwriter, playwright, songwriter, and poet

John Atcheler, 'Horse slaughterer to Queen Victoria'

Edward Hodges Baily, sculptor

Beryl Bainbridge, author

Abraham Dee Bartlett, zoologist, superintendent of the London Zoo known for selling the popular African elephant Jumbo to P. T. Barnum

Source and attribution

Adapted from “Highgate Cemetery” by English Wikipedia contributors. Main paragraphs and sections are retained; tables, reference markers and technical markup are omitted. This is an encyclopedic adaptation, not a personal review. Original revision and contributor history ↗. Text is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗. Check current visitor access, tickets and transport with the relevant operator.