High Time You Visited Highgate
June 3rd, 2007
Honestly, it's not as morbid as it sounds. In fact, Highgate Cemetery is a delightful place to while away an hour or two on a sunny Sunday afternoon. A stone's throw from Archway station, it's an easy outing from just about anywhere in central London.
In its day, this was the place to end up six feet under if you were going to pop your clogs in the capital. Of the 169,000 people buried here, 850 are considered 'notable' - including six Lord Mayors, a string of business tycoons and the author George Eliot.
But it's star resident Karl Marx who is very much top dog in the popularity stakes. His gravesite, located in the East Cemetery, is the first pit stop on most visitors' lists. As I pitch up at the entrance and scramble around in my bag for the £3 fee, it seems most are here for Marx.
“Head straight along the path, take the first left and Marx is on the right,” says Mary, a seasoned volunteer with the Friends of Highgate Cemetery. “If it upsets you when I say Marx is on the right, approach his grave from the other side. Then he's on the left,” she jokes. Some of us chortle.
In any case, you can't miss it. A huge bust of the revolutionary philosopher overlooks this small corner of the cemetery where he is, appropriately, surrounded by a number of common people.
Potter around the overgrown but charmingly atmospheric maze of 52,500 graves and you come across a litany of characters. There's Ann Jewson Crisp who, at the ripe old age of 94, was buried alongside 'her faithful dog', Emperor. A bit further along, you'll see Fireman's Corner, dedicated to servicemen who died in the line of duty. Then there's Chong Koon, founder of Piccadilly's Cathay Chinese restaurant. He checked out in 1957.
More recently, Highgate became home to celebrity spy Alexander Litvinenko, who is now encased in a lead coffin to prevent Polonium-210 from poisoning those who make the pilgrimage to his grave.
If you fancy a trip, the cemetery is open 363 days a year - just be sure to leave!
