Opened for business in 1860, the Highgate Cemetery East is sometimes uncharitably seen as a poor country cousin to Highgate Cemetery West. Its lack of grandiose architecture or outre landscaping seem however to have saved it from the ravages of vandalism which its next door neighbour has been subject to over the decades. But the East Cemetery is beautiful in its own right, and many psychic visitors have noted that it has a light, almost sparkling atmosphere.
Like the old cemetery, the East Cemetery is run by the Friends of Highgate Cemetery, although visitors are allowed to deviate from the guided tour, and admission costs approximately a third of the price. This inaccurate impression of it being a paupers alternative extends to its comparative lack of ghostly residents; indeed it seems that in Highgate even the dead like to keep up with the Joneses!
There is however one ghost who seems to be solely associated with the East Cemetery.
She allegedly takes the form of a mad old woman with long grey hair who flits between the tombstones searching for her murdered children. This spectral female seems to have entered the printed pantheon of Highgate’s legends in the mid 1970s, and tracking down actual reports of sightings has proved fruitless …
If you are planning to visit Highgate Cemetery East please do check out their fantastic website first to check opening times. There are restrictions upon filming and photography which you should familarise yourself with. Oh – and do double check terms and conditions at time of purchase – but from the summer of 2013 admission to Highgate Cemetery West also entitles the bearer to a 4 week pass for the East cemetery.
DISCLAIMER – ATTEMPTING TO VISIT HIGHGATE CEMETERY OUTSIDE OF OPENING HOURS IS NOT ONLY ILLEGAL IT IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS. DON’T DO IT PLEASE!
Have seen the mad old woman, or anything else strange in Highgate Cemetery East?
Why not share your experiences below?
The satirical magazine Private Eye has a regular column, ‘Dumb Britain’, featuring people who display their general ignorance to the world by appearing on TV and radio quiz programmes. On BBC1, recently, Nick Knowles asked a contestant: “Che Guevara was buried in Highgate Cemetery – true or false?” He replied: “So Che Guevara was a person – true.” For the record, Che Guevara died in Bolivia, and is presumably buried there.