I am eternally curious & passionate about both history & family research.
The cousins invited us to join them on a trip to Highgate cemetery in London. We have spoken of this iconic place several times - the towering headstones to the great & good of times past & the fascinating structures within the large space. Several films have used this space & images abound of the vast, private burial grounds.
It is fascinating how much funeral traditions have changed in that time which was the era of huge funerals with all the trappings of dark mourning clothes, of elaborate tombs, of dozens of mourners following the coffins, of family visiting the graves regularly & even having picnics close to their loved ones.
Highgate private cemetery was opened in 1839 has over 53 000 graves for 170 000 internments. There are terraced catacombs, mausoleums & imposing headstones across the vast space. We booked a 90 minute tour of the West cemetery with a very informative guide.
Charles Dicken's wife Catherine, his sister Fanny, his brother Alfred & his parents John & Elizabeth are also buried there on a path aptly called Dickens path.
I did some background research before our trip so I have an understanding of what to look out for.
The Circle of Lebanon is a particularly beautiful circular walk, that is set down in the ground so almost invisible from the paths.
The tops of the tombs level with the ground around it. It was named because of an ancient tree that unfortunately had to be felled but another is planted in its place.
The Egyptian avenue is a covered over alley way from a time when all things Egyptian was the height of interest.
There are 2 impressive obelisks at the entrance leading to a domed space with locked family vaults on both sides.
It originally had a roof that made the space too gloomy so it was removed & it is now covered with greenery & vines giving it a garden like feel.
The imposing Beer Mausoleum was for the German Julius Beer (1830-80) who made his money on the London Stock exchange.
He was the owner of The Observer newspaper. His daughter is also interred there after she died of scarlet fever aged just 8.
Have a look around it here .
He was apparently shunned by the upper classes for being 'foreign' & having made his money in commerce rather than inheriting it as the upper classes prided themselves on.
This mausoleum is a bit of showing them that he had made it on his own.
The terrace catacombs were beautifully laid out with vaulted sections to the left & right of the entrance, lit by skylights set in to the vaulted roof. The space was cold yet very peaceful. It is behind locked doors as coffins were desecrated in times past by those who believed that vampires were there.
As with all these old graveyards, there are tales of ghostly apparitions & a persistent one here is of a vampire. However, the guide dispelled this rumour when our guide Alison unlocked the Terrace Catacombs. It holds 825 shelf spaces, several spaces high that are filled with triple coffins. The body was first places in a wooden coffin, then in a lead lined on, finally a showy wooden one encased the others.
Bodies entombed above ground have to be in lead lined coffins, below ground can be just wooden.
Michael Faraday is best known as a physicist & chemist who discovered the principles behind the electric motor & was the first to connect light & magnetism which changed all our lives.
Today many of us use Faraday pouches to protect our devices from being hacked. His headstone is set to one side, a vast one erected by his wife.
The Grade 2 listed Mears family memorial is elaborate.
The family owned the Whitechapel Bell Foundry where Big Ben was cast.
The Liberty Bell was cast at the same foundry & was shipped to America.
The Horse Grave was to the Atcheler Family & is marked with a horse on top. He was the horse slaughter to Queen Victoria, a job few had even heard of.
The grave of the bare knuckle boxer Thomas Sayers (1826-65) has a full size statue of his dog 'Lion' at his feet.
Thomas excelled at the illegal, but tolerated sport of bare knuckle boxing, & his funeral was one of the largest at the cemetery as his fans lined the streets & clogged up the cemetery to honour him.
The tomb of another animal lover is that of George Wombwell (1777-1850). He was a shoemaker who turned his hand to showing animals that was more profitable.
He was a travelling animal menagerie show in a time when few had seen exotic animals.
He had 15 touring wagons with elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, monkeys & zebras. He has a full size lion called 'Nero' on his tomb.
The sad story told on the stone of 'Emma Wallace Gray who died in October 1854 in her 19th year of age - from the effects of fire, her dress having accidentally ignited 10 days previously, in the bloom of youth, when others fondly clinging to life, I prayed, mid agonies, for death'
The tomb of Mabel Veronica Batten & Radclyffe Hall in the Circle of Lebanon.
Mabel's husband is buried in the tomb as well as her female lover Radclyffe Hall. Theirs was a controversial relationship in Victorian times.
Flowers are left at the tomb entrance every week ...
The modern grave of Alexander Livinenko - He was poisoned in a London hotel by past associates of his.
The images of him suffering from radiation poisoning was shown on TV in an attempt to get to the bottom of it.
He is buried deep & in a lead lined coffin due to the risk of radiation.
The impressively large family tomb of
Sir Loftus Otway who served in the military & the chains around the tombb are in the shape of canons. This large corner underground plot is lit by skylights that can be seen on the corner.
Like many of these tombs / mausoleums, they are private & locked.
This grave near the entrance shows the symbolism associated with the trade of the person - note the upturned horseshoes & whip on his grave.
James Selby (1842-1888) was a renowned carriage driver - shown by the upturned horse shoes. He set a record of under 8 hours from London to Brighton & back but the £1000 challenge really took its toll on his health.
He had the most beautiful bulbs on his grave.
The newest family Mausoleum near the entrance belonged to the rich American Goldhammer family.
Robert F Goldhammer was banker, investor & philanthropist. He owned Dunkin Donuts & brought the chain to the UK.
This recent building came at a cost of about 2 million pounds.
It was fascinating having to remember the terminology connected to these old cemeteries that describe the memorials - headstones, mausoleum, sarcophagus, chest tomb, vaults, leger slabs, columbarium, catacombs, common graves of ordinary poor people etc
Tombstone iconography terminology associated is another field to remember when looking around - Angels, Bibles or books, birds, columns, crosses, hands clasped, hour glass, IHS, ivy or vines, flowers like lily, poppy, lotus, or passion flowers as well as wreathes of holly, laurel, oak etc. Inverted symbols like torches or horseshoes for a life cut short etc or urns draped with a veil for the partition between life & death. These symbols were in the headstone catalogues of the time so several similar ones appear in the cemetery ...
The East cemetery on the opposite side of the road is just as interesting with names more people probably know. However, that side will have its own post.
I hope you have enjoyed this unusual visit with me, thank you for stopping by,
Dee ✝️ 🪦⚰️⚱️
