Highgate Cemetery - West Side (2019)

Highgate Cemetery, London - West side

Visited August 2019

It's been over 6 years since I last visited the west side of Highgate Cemetery - this is the side which is only visitable on a guided tour (£12 for a tour lasting anything from 1 to 2 hours, guide and weather depending). The most notable change was the sad removal of the ancient Cedar of Lebanon from the Circle of Lebanon; it was cut down in early August following the discovery of catastrophic rot, making it dangerously unstable. While its absence is clearly felt, the guide did tell us that plans are afoot to source a new one.

The tour took us to some old favourite graves, and some I hadn't seen before - there's no set route for the groups, so always something new to see. And a visit inside the catacombs, while not to everyone's taste, is something I always enjoy! Since my last visit, a new mausoleum, the huge, and hugely expensive, Goldhammer tomb, has been built just inside the entrance (or the exit, as it's the last burial you see before finishing the tour) - I like that despite being of the 21st century, it's very sympathetic to the styles of the 19th and 20th century burials that came before it.