Who is buried at highgate

Since it opened Highgate was a prestigious place to be buried and so it follows that the Victorian celebrities found their way here. There are plenty of architects, scientists and politicians, but a particularly eye-catching grave is that of Thomas Sayers, a bare-knuckle prize fighter.

Established in , Wombwell was an eccentric showman and by he had 15 wagons packed with exotic creatures that toured the country. He even made use of his coffin before he died, made from the wood of a shipwreck and gifted to him by Prince Albert for curing his pet dog Wombwell exhibited his coffin for a fee while he was alive. Karl Marx can be found in the East Cemetery and is almost impossible to miss his tomb, simply because of the absolutely massive bronze sculpture of Marx which stands at 12ft 3.

Marx was originally buried here in , alongside his wife in a sparse ceremony. Howver in the s, after a huge fundraising effort from the Communist party, Marx and his wife Jenny were exhumed and moved to a more prominent position.

The current monument was erected in , designed by Laurence Bradshaw. The East Cemetery was built in the s, this expansion doubled the cemetery in size and has a very different feel to the West side, less overgrown and dramatic. Leave it to the Victorians to come up with an engineering solution. An underground tunnel and hydraulic lift was installed! It opened in but is sadly inaccessible today.

One of the most striking modern tombstones is for the artist and printmaker Patrick Caulfield On the Highgate Cemetery website you can choose between guided tours and self-guided visits of the West Cemetery. The East Cemetery is included in your ticket price. Find out more here. Each Wednesday morning I send the latest London history blog post, news and inspiration. The Reveller. The Optimist. ES Best.

ES Mag. Admission is by timed ticket. Please remember to allow sufficient time to visit the East Cemetery which is included in the price if your tour is late in the day.

Download our handy map. Plan how to get here at www. Public transport may be affected by engineering works and station closures. Please check your journey in advance. There is a bicycle rack outside the West Cemetery gates. If that's full, there are other racks further down the hill. As there is no off-street visitor parking, we encourage you to leave your car at home if possible. Parking restrictions are in place on the surrounding streets between 10am and 12 noon Monday to Friday.

After those times and at weekends, on-street parking is free. We do keep a small number of parking spaces for grave owners. Douglas Adams. Alexander Litvinenko. Malcolm McLaren. Herbert Spencer. Jeremy Beadle. Ralph Richardson.

George Eliot. Photo: user uploaded image. Jacob Bronowski. William Kingdon Clifford. William Benjamin Carpenter. Photo: Metaweb FB. Radclyffe Hall. Elizabeth Siddal. John Singleton Copley. Christina Rossetti.