Wednesday lates! Special evening opening and tours: Wednesdays in June and July. Book tours online.

Who’s here

With over 170,000 people in 53,000 graves, Highgate Cemetery is a place to remember the people who have gone before us and to celebrate their achievements

Douglas ADAMS

Douglas ADAMS

(1952-2001) Author of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Patrick CAULFIELD

Patrick CAULFIELD

(1936-2005) Pop artist

George ELIOT

George ELIOT

(1819-80) Novelist

William FRIESE GREENE

William FRIESE GREENE

(1855-1921) British portrait photographer and prolific inventor

Anna MAHLER

Anna MAHLER

(1904-88) Austrian sculptor, daughter of composer Gustav Mahler

Malcolm MCLAREN

Malcolm MCLAREN

(1946-2010) Impresario, rock-artist, clothes designer and boutique owner

Christina ROSSETTI

Christina ROSSETTI

(1830-94) Poet

Who else is here?

East Cemetery

West Cemetery

East Cemetery

  • W H CROSSLAND (1835–1908), architect of Akroydon, W Yorkshire, and Royal Holloway College [Memorial only]
  • Frank MATCHAM (1854-1920) Theatre architect; designed London Coliseum and Hackney Empire
  • Charles J PHIPPS (1835-97) Architect of theatres around UK, incl. Her Majesty’s, London
  • Rowland PLUMBE (1838-1919) Architect; work incl. Queen’s Park Estate and Noel Park, Haringey
  • Sir Lawrence WEAVER (1876-1930) Civil servant and architectural writer
  • Sir Colin St John WILSON (1922-2007) Architect; known for new British Library at St Pancras

West Cemetery

  • Sir Herbert BARTLETT (1842-1921) Contractor. Endowed Bartlett School of Architecture, University of London
  • Edward BLORE (1787-1879) Architect who completed Buckingham Palace
  • James Bunstone BUNNING (1802-63) Architect to Highgate Cemetery; designer of the Coal Exchange and Holloway Prison
  • Frederick DOVE (d. 1923). Director of Dove Brothers, major building contractors
  • Stephen GEARY (1797-1854) Architect to the London Cemetery Company and founder of Highgate Cemetery
  • Edward Buckton LAMB (1806-69) 'ROGUE' Architect
  • Alfred MEESON (1808–85) architect and engineer

East Cemetery

  • Patrick CAULFIELD (1936-2005) Pop artist
  • Martin COLNAGHI (1821-1908) Picture dealer and collector
  • Lewis Foreman DAY (1845-1910) Designer and writer
  • Mario DUBSKY (1939-85) Painter and teacher
  • Ernest FENOLLOSA (1853-1908) American art historian; specialised in Japanese art
  • George FRIPP (1813-96) Watercolour artist
  • Anthony FROSHAUG (1920-84) Progressive typographer, printer and exhibition designer
  • Michael KENNY (1941-99) Sculptor and artist
  • Anna MAHLER (1904-88) Austrian sculptor, daughter of composer Gustav Mahler
  • Sir Sidney NOLAN (1917-92) Australian painter famous for the ‘Ned Kelly’ series
  • Hewitt RAYNER (1902-57) Australian-born British printmaker; known for pictures of the blitz
  • Berenice SYDNEY (1944-83) Artist
  • Feliks TOPOLSKI (1907-89) Polish-born British painter and stage designer

West Cemetery

  • J W Comyns CARR (1849-1914) drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager
  • John CROSS (1819-61) History painter. His ‘Assasination of Thomas a Becket’ is in Canterbury Cathedral
  • George DALZIEL (1815-1902) Founder of the prominent Victorian engraving firm
  • Frederick GOODALL (1822-1904) genre painter
  • Andrew Garrick GOW (1848-1920) History painter
  • Henry GRAVES (1808-82) printseller and fine art publisher
  • George HERING (1805-79) landscape painter
  • Joseph Paul Hodin (1905-95) art historian, aesthetician and critic
  • Frank HOLL (1845–88) painter and illustrator
  • Georgiana HOUGHTON (1814-84) SPIRITUALIST MEDIUM AND ARTIST
  • George JONES (1786–1869) army officer and painter
  • Sir Edwin LANDSEER (1802–73) animal painter [memorial only]
  • Thomas LANDSEER (1793-1880) artist
  • Walter NEURATH (1903–67) publisher and founder of Thames and Hudson
  • George Pinwell (1842-75) painter and illustrator
  • Lizzie Siddal (1829-62) painter; wife of Dante Gabriel Rossetti
  • Alfred STEVENS (1817-75) sculptor and designer

East Cemetery

  • Sir Albert BARRATT (1860-1941) Director of Barratt & Co confectioners
  • Marthe BESSON (c.1852-1908) Anglo-French musical instrument maker
  • Baron DALZIEL of Wooler (1852-1928) British newspaper owner and Conservative politician
  • William FOYLE (1885-1963) With brother Gilbert founded the famous bookshop in 1903
  • William FRIESE GREENE (1855-1921) British portrait photographer and prolific inventor
  • John LOBB (1829-95) Maker of bespoke boots and shoes
  • Sir Sigmund NEUMANN (1857-1916) South African financier and racehorse owner
  • Thomas POCKLINGTON (1860-1935) Property developer; founder of the Thomas Pocklington Trust
  • Richard ‘Stoney’ SMITH (1836-1900) Miller who patented Hovis high wheatgerm flour process
  • 1st Baron STRATHCONA and MOUNTROYAL (1820-1914) Scottish-born Canadian financier and politician

West Cemetery

  • Sir Herbert BARTLETT (1842-1921) Contractor. Endowed Bartlett School of Architecture, University of London
  • John BRINSMEAD (d. 1908) Founder of John Brinsmead & Son, piano manufacturers
  • William COLLARD (1776-1866) Piano manufacturer
  • Charles CRUFT (1852-1938) Founder of the dog show (1886)
  • Herbert CUTBUSH (d. 1918) Director of the Cutbush Nurseries, Highgate and Barnet. Poplularizer of topiary in the 1890s
  • George DALZIEL (1815-1902) Founder of the prominent Victorian engraving firm
  • Frederick DOVE (d. 1923). Director of Dove Brothers, major building contractors
  • Sir Rowland HILL (1795-1879) merchant and local politician; established penny post [memorial only]
  • John MAPLE (1815-1900) Founder of the furniture business
  • Walter NEURATH (1903–67) publisher and founder of Thames and Hudson
  • Bernard Quaritch (1819-99) bookseller and publisher
  • Peter Robinson (1804-74) Founder of the department store
  • Frederick Warne (1825-1901) bookseller and publisher; pioneers of coloured picture books for children

East Cemetery

  • Thomas ASHFORD (d.1882) Fireman died in Alhambra Theatre fire
  • Henry BERG (1858-82) Fireman died in Alhambra Theatre fire
  • Commonwealth war graves
  • Robert GRANT (1837-67) Awarded Victoria Cross during Indian Rebellion of 1857
  • ‘Fireman’s corner’ LONDON FIRE BRIGADE erected by LFB Widows and Orphans Fund in 1934

West Cemetery

  • Commonwealth war graves and screen wall memorial

East Cemetery

  • Douglas ADAMS (1952-2001) Author of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
  • George ELIOT (1819-80) Novelist
  • Pat KAVANAGH (1940-2008) Literary agent; wife of Julian Barnes
  • Henry Crabb ROBINSON (1775-1867) Lawyer and diarist
  • Anthony SHAFFER (1926-2001) Writer famous for 'Sleuth'
  • Sir Leslie STEPHEN (1832-1904) Author; first editor of 'Dictionary of National Biography'
  • Lucien Stryk (1924-2013) American poet; translator of Buddhist literature and Zen poetry

West Cemetery

  • J W Comyns CARR (1849-1914) drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager
  • Radclyffe HALL (1880-1943) Novelist
  • Bernard Quaritch (1819-99) bookseller and publisher
  • Christina ROSSETTI (1830-94) Poet
  • Frederick Tennyson (1807-98) poet brother of Alfred
  • Watts Thomas (1811-69) first superintendent of the British Museum Reading Room
  • Arthur Waley [formerly Schloss] (1889-1966) translator of Chinese and Japanese literature
  • Frederick Warne (1825-1901) bookseller and publisher; pioneers of coloured picture books for children

East Cemetery

  • Marthe BESSON (c.1852-1908) Anglo-French musical instrument maker
  • Shura CHERKASSKY (1909-95) Ukrainian-born American classical pianist
  • Leslie HUTCHINSON (1900-69) One of the biggest cabaret stars in the world of the 1920s and 30s
  • Bert JANSCH (1943-2011) Scottish folk musician
  • DAN KILDARE (1879-1920) pioneer of syncopated dance music
  • Liza LEHMANN (1862-1918) Composer
  • Malcolm MCLAREN (1946-2010) Impresario, rock-artist, clothes designer and boutique owner
  • William MONK (1823-89) Organist and writer of hymns; composer of 'Abide with me'
  • Harry THORNTON (1883-1918) Pianist; died in 1918 flu pandemic

West Cemetery

  • John BRINSMEAD (d. 1908) Founder of John Brinsmead & Son, piano manufacturers
  • William COLLARD (1776-1866) Piano manufacturer
  • Carl Rosa (1842-89) opera manager; launched opera company to produce operas in English

East Cemetery

  • Ernest BARKER (c.1872-1912) went down with RMS Titanic
  • Ferdinand BARZETTI (1836-1914) British veteran of American Civil War
  • Arthur 'Peggy' BETTTINSON (1862-1926) Boxer and boxing promoter
  • Ann Jewson CRISP (1789-1894) had a faithful dog, Emperor
  • John GROOM (1845-1919) Philanthropist who set up a charity for disabled women and girls
  • Jim HORN (1976-2010) Avid reader but not a partner in the Penguin firm
  • Dr José Carlos RODRIGUES (1844-1923) Brazilian journalist, financial expert and philanthropist
  • Sir Eyre SHAW (1830-1908) Superintendent and moderniser of the London Fire Brigade
  • John Henderson SMITH (1826-1904) Commander of HMS Worcester, Thames Nautical Training College
  • Peter UCKO (1938-2007) Archaeologist and anthropologist
  • Issachar ZACHARIE (1827-1900) Chiropodist to President Abraham Lincoln; founder of the Masonic order of The Secret Monitor

West Cemetery

  • Thomas DRUCE (1793-1864) Furniture dealer falsely alleged to have led double life as the 5th Duke of Portland
  • Sir Charles FELLOWS (1799-1860) traveller and archaeologist
  • Elizabeth LILLEY (1811-1900) midwife to Queen Victoria
  • Sherard Osborn (1822–75) naval officer and arctic explorer
  • Sir Loftus Otway (1775-1854) army officer
  • Tom SAYERS (1826-65) boxer
  • James SELBY (1842-88) London coachman; a leading figure in the 'coaching revival'

East Cemetery

  • Catherine BOOTH-CLIBBORN (1858-1955) Founder of Salvation Army in France and Switzerland
  • Yusuf DADOO (1909-83) South African communist and anti-apartheid activist
  • Paul FOOT (1937-2004) Investigative journalist, political campaigner and author
  • Philip GOULD (1950-2011) Baron Gould of Brookwood. Political adviser; architect of 'New Labour'
  • Mansoor HEKMAT (1951-2002) Iranian Marxist theorist and leader of worker-communist movement
  • George HOLYOAKE (1817-1906) Secularist and co-operator who coined the term 'secularism' and 'jingoism'
  • Claudia JONES (1915-64) Trinidadian journalist, political activist and founder of the Notting Hill carnival
  • Leone LEVI (1821-88) Jurist, political economist and statistician
  • James MARTINEAU (1805-1900) Unitarian minister and religious philosopher
  • Karl MARX (1818-83) German political philosopher and revolutionary socialist
  • Hodgson PRATT (1824-1907) Peace campaigner and co-operative movement activist
  • Corin REDGRAVE (1939-2010) Actor and political activist
  • Ernestine ROSE (1810-92) Atheist and feminist
  • Herbert SPENCER (1820-1903) Philosopher, biologist, sociologist and political theorist
  • 1st Baron STRATHCONA and MOUNTROYAL (1820-1914) Scottish-born Canadian financier and politician
  • Edward TRUELOVE (1809-99) Radical publisher & bookseller

West Cemetery

  • John Singleton, Baron Lyndhurst COPLEY (1772–1863) politician and lord chancellor
  • Sir Charles COWPER (1807-75) Five times premier of New South Wales
  • Sir Fitzroy KELLY (1796–1880) judge
  • Frederick Denison MAURICE (1805–72) Church of England clergyman and theologian
  • Samuel Noble (1779–1853) engraver and Swedenborgian minister

East Cemetery

  • Andrew BAIRD (1842-1908) Tidal surveyor
  • Sir Thomas Lauder BRUNTON (1844-1916) Scottish physician; pioneer of angina drug treatment
  • Sir James CAIRD (1816-92) Agricultural writer and politician
  • William CLIFFORD (1845-79) Mathematician and philosopher; introduced geometric algebra
  • George CRITCHETT (1817-82) Ophthalmic surgeon
  • Francis ELGAR (1845-1909) First professor of naval architecture in Britain
  • William FRIESE GREENE (1855-1921) British portrait photographer and prolific inventor
  • Reginald HARRISON (1837-1908) Urologist and campaigner for street ambulances
  • Sir William HERDMAN (1858-1924) Scottish marine zoologist and oceanographer
  • David KIRKALDY (1820-97) Scottish engineer; pioneer of materials testing
  • Willoughby SMITH (1828-91) Electrical engineer; pioneer of underwater telegraphy

West Cemetery

  • Jacob BRONOWSKI (1908-74) Scientist and broadcaster known for ‘The Ascent of Man’ series
  • Michael FARADAY (1791-1867) natural philosopher, scientific adviser, and Sandemanian
  • JOSEPH HENRY GREEN (1791-1863) surgeon and natural philosopher
  • Sir Charles HARTLEY (1825-1915) civil engineer
  • Robert Gardiner HILL (1811-78) surgeon specializing in the treatment of the insane
  • Joseph HODGSON (1788–1869) surgeon
  • David Edward Hughes (1829/31–1900), teacher and telegraph engineer
  • Frederick Pavy (1829-1911) physician and physiologist; introduced blood sugar test for diabetes
  • Joseph Payne (1808-76) educationalist; first Professor of Education at the College of Preceptors in London

East Cemetery

  • Jeremy BEADLE (1948-2008) TV presenter, writer and producer
  • Hercules BELLEVILLE (1939-2009) American film producer
  • Dan CRAWFORD (1942-2005) Inventor of British pub theatre
  • Sheila GISH (1942-2005) Actor
  • Frank MATCHAM (1854-1920) Theatre architect; designed London Coliseum and Hackney Empire
  • Carl MAYER (1894-1944) Austrian writer; co-wrote the screenplay to 'The cabinet of Dr Caligari' (1919)
  • Charles J PHIPPS (1835-97) Architect of theatres around UK, incl. Her Majesty’s, London
  • Corin REDGRAVE (1939-2010) Actor and political activist
  • Sir Ralph RICHARDSON (1902-83) Actor
  • Max WALL (1908-90) Comedian and actor

West Cemetery

  • Jacob BRONOWSKI (1908-74) Scientist and broadcaster known for ‘The Ascent of Man’ series
  • J W Comyns CARR (1849-1914) drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager
  • David DEVANT (1868-1941) magician, shadowgraphist and film exhibitor
  • Philip HARBEN (1906-70) television chef and writer on cookery
  • Samuel Phelps (1804-78) actor and theatre manager

Roll of honour
Frank Belthle, Private, 14th Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps died 100 years ago today, aged 24 years..

Opening times

Open daily except Christmas day and Boxing day. Different opening arrangements apply to the East and West. The hours below are those for March to October. 

East Cemetery

The East Cemetery is where Karl Marx is buried. Visitors may roam freely on this side, but there is an entrance charge.

Monday to Friday: 10am to 5pm last admission 4.30pm
Weekends and public holidays: 11am to 5pm last admission 4.30pm

We may close for short periods to facilitate funerals. In addition, for your safety, strong winds or icy weather may occasionally require us to close the cemetery to visitors. 

Admission: £4 adults, children under 18 and Members free. School groups £1 per child.

Find out more about the East Cemetery including our occasional tours.

West Cemetery

Admission to the West Cemetery is by guided tour only. For further information and to book, see the 'Tours' section at Visit > West Cemetery

Planning ahead? 

From March to October inclusive the East Cemetery closes at 5pm, with last admission at 4.30pm, and at weekends the last West tour of the day leaves at 4pm.  From November to February inclusive the East Cemetery closes at 4pm, with last admission at 3.30pm, and at weekends the last West tour of the day leaves at  3pm.

How to get here

Our address is Highgate Cemetery, Swain’s Lane, London N6 6PJ

Download our handy map

By tube

ARCHWAY tube, High Barnet branch, Northern line. (Don’t go to Highgate tube – it's a much longer walk!). Take the Highgate Hill exit. Then either take a bus (210,143, 271) two stops to Waterlow Park or walk up Highgate Hill. It’s then a very pleasant five minute stroll through Waterlow Park to our gates. 

The tube system is often affected by engineering works and station closures. Please check your journey in advance at www.tfl.gov.uk.

By bus

C2 stops at Parliament Hill Fields. C11 stops at Brookfield Park. Buses 143, 210 and 271 stop at Waterlow Park on Highgate Hill.

By road

There is no off-street visitor parking. 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.

Note that there is no access to Swain’s Lane from the north.

Bicycle

There is a bicycle rack outside the West Cemetery gates.

Contact us

Email info@highgatecemetery.org

To find out whether someone is buried here, go to Searches

Telephone enquiries

Monday to Friday
General enquiries 020 8340 1834
Burials, memorials, grave ownership 020 8347 2471
Filming or photography requests 020 8347 2472
Group visits 020 8347 2475
Volunteering 020 8347 2474

You should know...

The cemetery can get muddy underfoot, so do wear sensible shoes.

Photography

Still photography of graves is allowed for personal use only. We don't allow the cemetery to be used as a backdrop for unrelated subjects such as fashion shoots. No video. You can use a tripod, but not on tours.

Animals

No animals are permitted with the exception of assistance dogs.

Accessibility

Visitors to the West cemetery should be aware that the paths are steep, and the tour route also includes two flights of stairs. The East cemetery is on a gentler slope with no steps and predominantly tarmac paths and is more easily wheelchair accessible. A small amount of disabled parking is available outside the cemetery’s entrance on Swain’s Lane. There is a disabled toilet in the West Cemetery. For further information, please contact the office in advance of your visit. 

More rules

You can download a full set of our rules here. 

© 2017 Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust. Registered Charity No. 1058392. Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No. 3157806. Registered office Swain’s Lane, London N6 6PJ

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