Victorian Gothic Highgate Cemetery

As a photographer, I typically shoot Lifestyle stock, which is basically living, breathing people engaging in everyday activities. But when I am not shooting for my editors or clients....I prefer to shoot 'dead' people. Well, not exactly dead people per se...but rather the arcane resting places of formally living people. I love old graveyards, and I just recently discovered one across the sea that is now on the top of my 'Things to do and places to photograph in Europe' list.

Highgate Cemetery opened in Victorian London in 1839 when the mortality rate was growing and the local churches were running out of burial space. So a ring of seven large private cemeteries called "The Magnificent Seven" was built outside the city, and the era of stylish Gothic burials was ushered in. The archaic Highgate Cemetery has a gorgeous Victorian Gothic feel to it owing to the grand tombs adorned with majestic statues, large family mausoleums and a circular area of catacombs. Over the years, the cemetery fell victim to time and the elements. Trees grew slowly through the graves and uprooted the headstones, statues crumbled and the dense foliage and overgrowth gave the cemetery the look of a "lost city".

This Gothic setting soon began to draw the attention of occultists and thrill seekers in the 60's & 70's, even sparking the tale of the famous haunting of the property by the "Highgate Vampire". As the predatory deaths of numerous foxes, and the disconcerting appearance of human corpses began to rise...the public grew increasingly frightened, and the police launched a full investigation making Highgate infamous. The cemetery continues to fascinate visitors, including ghost hunters who frequently trek there. Apparently the departed souls are restless at Highgate, as there have been many spirit sightings on the grounds including a skeleton who hangs out at the main entrance, a dark figured phantom that disappears into the high wall surrounding the property and the more ominous 'madwoman' who prowls around the graves, searching out the resting places of the children she murdered.

In spite of these sensational claims, one cannot help but be over-taken by the exquisite beauty of the decay, the melancholy gracefulness of the Gothic architecture, and the feeling of other-worldliness that pervades the landscape of Highgate Cemetery. I should like to photograph this splendid decomposition of life and death for myself one day soon. (Rooted Gravestone © Alastair Humphreys, Celtic Cross Trio © Elise Thompson, do not know who shot the rest.)