Highgate Cemetery, London

Anyone who has spent quality time with me during Spooky Season knows that I love walking cemeteries during October as the leaves are changing and the weather cools. I can immerse myself in the quiet splendor of hearing the noise of the city fall away and all I hear is the wind rustling through the trees. That was the experience I had when I took two trains and a bus out to Highgate, a burrow of London, to visit the famed cemetery of the same name. Two foxes greeted me as I entered.

There are two sections of the cemetery, East and West. The west portion has, for the most part, been left to it’s own devices as nature has tried to take over this Victorian era cemetery that opened in 1839. This is where I spent my final late afternoon hours of that rainy day.

Ivy and moss grow over the stones and tombs in the chilly, moist air. A squirrel overhead made panicked noises from a nearby branch as I walked down a path, warning wildlife that someone had interrupted the quiet splendor of the day. Sorry, not sorry, my inner tourist whispered back.

The cemetery is more known for who is buried there than its location. Karl Marx. George Michael. George Elliot. The list goes on. I did not seek out these graves for the rain went from a drizzle to something closer to a downpour while I was there, so I made my short time go as quickly as possible.

I came across a stone wall clad in ivy and moss. It beckoned me, whispered my name. It turned out to be what is knows as the Egyptian Avenue.

As I walked along the tunnel which is now open to the sky whereas before it once had a ceiling of stone, what little noises there were in the cemetery fell way as if the original ceiling was still there. I was in utter silence. Not even the sound of the rain dripping from the leaves reached my ears. Eerie to say the least.

At the other end of the tunnel I found this path, known as the Circle of Lebanon, that inevitably led to a chapel hidden away at the back of the cemetery. I had heard the bells earlier, but thought little of it since there seems to be an old church on every other corner in London. There are 20 chambers total behind iron doors along this full circle path.

The day was late, however, and they lock the cemetery gates strictly at five regardless if people are out of the cemetery or not. I made my way back to the entrance and fleetingly glanced in the East section of the cemetery where newer graves were obviously still grieved upon. There was a funeral, so I did not take any photos out of respect for those mourning their dead.

If you are in London, I highly recommend taking one of the northbound trains out to Highgate. It will take you to a part of London that is not traveled by the everyday traveller. You’ll see what it London looks like outside of the spots touted on tourist sites as the places to see. Do better than I did, though, and don’t show up at the end of the day. Show up early and give yourself a few hours to explore. You won’t be disappointed.

I’ll be adding some of my photography to my Etsy Store in the coming days, so you can find it here.