5 cemeteries you should visit in London
Peaceful, beautiful and full of incredible sculptures, London’s cemeteries are havens of tranquility – and offer a chance to visit the resting places of history’s most famous people
1. Highgate Cemetery
Swain’s Lane, London N6 6PJ
Highgate is one of London’s great Victorian cemeteries, crammed with thousands of gothic style headstones, tombs and memorials. Egyptian Avenue and the Circle of Lebanon are particularly impressive.
The grounds are full of trees, shrubs and wildflowers that have been left to grow without human interference, making in a de facto nature reserve.
Who’s there?
Karl Marx
Dog show founder, Charles Cruft
Douglas Adams
Jeremy Beadle
Sir Ralph Richardson
Malcom McLaren
Authro George Eliot
Catherin Dickens, wife of author Charles Dickens
Interesting fact
The painter Dante Gabriel Rosetti had his wife’s grave there opened so he could retrieve a book of poetry that had been buried with her.
Nearest Tube station
Archway. It’s a much longer walk from Highgate station.
2. Kensal Green Cemetery
Harrow Rd, London W10 4RA
Set in the well-heeled Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Kensal Green Cemetery is one of London’s oldest and most distinguished public burial grounds. Inspired by the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it covers 72 acres, houses over 65,000 graves and is home to 33 species of birds and wildlife.
Who’s there?
Engineer Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Newsagent W.H. Smith
Computer pioneer Charles Babbage
Novelist William Thackeray
Tight-rope walker Charles Blondin
Major Walter Wingfield, inventor of lawn tennis
Interesting fact
The armchair-shaped headstone for composer Henry Russell is a reference to his song, ‘My Old Armchair.’
Nearest Tube Station
Kensal Green or Ladbroke Grove
3. Bunhill Fields Cemetery
38 City Rd, London EC1Y 1AU
Unlike many of the denominational cemeteries in London, Bunhill Fields would accept anyone as long as they could afford the internment fees. It quickly became the most popular final resting place for non-conformists. It also has a Quaker section with an estimated 12,000 ‘residents.’
Who’s there?
Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe
John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress
Poet William Blake
Interesting fact
The name of the cemetery is a corruption of it’s original name ‘Bone Hill’ from the time the field was used as a dumping ground for human bones before the cemetery was opened in 1665.
Nearest tube station
Old Street
4. Golders Green Crematorium
Hoop Lane London NW11 7NL
The first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the first in Britain, the Crematorium at Golders Green is built in a distinctive, red brick Italianate style. While many of the notable people cremated here have had their ashes scattered elsewhere, there are many whose urns remain in the Columbarium.
Who’s there?
Sigmund Freud
Dracula author, Bram Stoker
Writer Rudyard Kipling
Actor Sid James
Singer Mark Bolan
Drummer Keith Moon
Actor Peter Sellers
Interesting fact
14 holders of the Victoria Cross have been cremated here.
Nearest Tube Station
Golders Green
5. Brompton Cemetery
Fulham Rd, London SW10 9UG
Taking inspiration from St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, this cemetery features a domed chapel, made from Bath stone, that is flanked by two curving colanades and reached via a tree line avenue. It is home to over 35,000 monuments, 28 of which are listed.
Who’s there?
Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhust
Auctioneer Samuel Leigh Sotheby
Boxer John Jackson
American singer Blanche Roosevelt
Interesting fact
Beatrix Potter once lived nearby and it is believed that she took the names of many of her characters from tombstones in the cemetery.
Nearest tube station
Earls Court or West Brompton
Main image: Karl Marx’s headstone (Shutterstock.com)
