London Month of the Dead - Mysteries of the Mausolea

THE MYSTERIES OF THE MAUSOLEA A guided tour inside some of the mausolea of Highgate Cemetery West led by Dr Ian Dungavell Saturday 12th October 2024 at 10:00 am and 12 noon Built in 1839 on the model of Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, Highgate Cemetery was one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries, opened by the Victorians to relieve the strain on Central London’s overflowing church graveyards. The Egyptian entrance gate, flanked by two enormous obelisks, reflects the contemporary fashion for Egyptology. A tomb-lined avenue leads to the Circle of Lebanon at whose heart is an ancient cedar tree, like a massive bonsai, its base surrounded by a circle of mausolea. The top of the cemetery is dominated by the mausoleum of the Beer family which was modelled on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Michael Faraday, Lucian Freud, Stella Gibbons and Christina Rossetti are all buried here. This is a rare opportunity to look inside some of the mausolea which the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust have restored, and to admire the care and attention which people have devoted to the memory of their loved ones. Led by DR IAN DUNGAVELL, architectural historian and chief executive of Highgate Cemetery. Tickets £20 including a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Highgate Cemetery. Please click here to buy. Access: Some paths in the cemetery are steep and there are two flights of steps without handrails. Participants should be able to stand for 90 minutes and walk uphill at a gentle pace. Photography is not permitted inside some mausolea. Click here for directions to the cemetery.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE MAUSOLEA
A guided tour inside some of the mausolea of Highgate Cemetery West led by Dr Ian Dungavell
Saturday 12th October 2024 at 10:00 am and 12 noon

Built in 1839 on the model of Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, Highgate Cemetery was one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries, opened by the Victorians to relieve the strain on Central London’s overflowing church graveyards. The Egyptian entrance gate, flanked by two enormous obelisks, reflects the contemporary fashion for Egyptology. A tomb-lined avenue leads to the Circle of Lebanon at whose heart is an ancient cedar tree, like a massive bonsai, its base surrounded by a circle of mausolea. The top of the cemetery is dominated by the mausoleum of the Beer family which was modelled on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Michael Faraday, Lucian Freud, Stella Gibbons and Christina Rossetti are all buried here.

This is a rare opportunity to look inside some of the mausolea which the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust have restored, and to admire the care and attention which people have devoted to the memory of their loved ones. Led by DR IAN DUNGAVELL, architectural historian and chief executive of Highgate Cemetery.

Tickets £20 including a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Highgate Cemetery. Please click here to buy.

Access: Some paths in the cemetery are steep and there are two flights of steps without handrails. Participants should be able to stand for 90 minutes and walk uphill at a gentle pace.

Photography is not permitted inside some mausolea.

Click here for directions to the cemetery.