Autobiography

Grave Concerns

Name: Grave Concerns
Price: 13.99 GBP
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)
Author: Martin Adeney
ISBN: 9781836283102

Bringing Highgate Cemetery Back to Life

by Martin Adeney

Released: 28th June, 2025Format: Paperback

ISBN:: 9781836283102

Paperback

£13.99

Synopsis

Highgate Cemetery is perhaps Britain’s most celebrated cemetery, best-known as the last resting place of Karl Marx. But also, of such luminaries as George Eliot and Michael Faraday, and still a sought-after burial ground with the likes of George Michael and Lucian Freud more recently interred alongside another 170,000 mostly ordinary Londoners.

Adding to the attraction of celebrity names and fascinating histories is the lure of its remarkable architecture, a striking mix of Classical, Gothic and Egyptian styles setting its catacombs in a dramatic vista which for years was crowned by a spreading Cedar of Lebanon. An unchallenged Grade One landscape.

But it has faced a major challenge in fighting the dereliction and the unfettered spread of self-seeded foliage while running short of grave space since it was abandoned by its original owners fifty years ago. Since then, it has been kept going by volunteers. In 2019 they had accumulated enough resources to begin a long-term conservation programme. But first they had to shepherd a Private Bill through Parliament to allow them to reclaim ancient grave-space to keep the Cemetery alive.

This is a diary of the two years it took, the unexpected challenges along the way, which included Covid, and some reflections about life in the Cemetery.

Read the reviews

Here's what readers have to say about this book....

Jim Carrick

Despite the forbidding subject matter, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and easy read. Despite the forgivable puns, this is a well written account by the Chairman of the Trustees of Highhgate Cemetery of a very challenging 2 year period in the history of this famous landmark. Everything from the Private Members Bill vital for the necessary restoration and development of the site to the positioning of a new gardeners hut, keeping staff, volunteers and visitors safe and the cemetery open during COVID to balancing the funds available against the extensive aspirations, this is a unique insider view of what it takes to run a successful Charitable enterprise. A must read for every Trustee and Volunteer.

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