Many years ago whilst living in San Francisco, I found a book from the 1980s called “Highgate Cemetery: Victorian Valhalla”, The book was filled with photos of what appeared to be a completely overgrown, if not somewhat abandoned cemetery in London. I fell in love.

On my first visit to London, I knew I had to visit. It was clear that more care had been put into the gardens than when the photos were taken for the book, but there was still very much the feeling of wild abandon and magical wonder. The many angels were still well represented everywhere, clearly the favourite theme the Victorians who created this wonderland, but there were so many curious and heartfelt themes as well.

Opened in 1839 in North London, the cemetery quickly became the fashionable place to spend one’s afterlife. It was particularly popular during the Gothic Revival fad of the time, so many of the approximately 53,000 graves purposely borrow from the style, but some later architecture favours other trends like Egyptian Revival and the Modernist movement. Much of it reads today as probably a bit too over-sentimental, but it’s balanced with the “wabi-sabi” aesthetic of the “beauty of decay” and things past their prime.

Opening hours change depending on the season, but Highgate is open most days of the year and well worth a visit just to get a glimpse into the Victorian view of not only the proper approach to death, but the preferred attitude towards what makes a good life.