London Outer Excursions Walks 3: Highgate Cemetery

Imaginative visitors beware: the cemetery is rumored to be haunted, so be on the lookout as you wander among the old and often crumbling stones. And along with the tombs and monuments of the Victorian era, be sure to look for the modern gravestones as well. In addition to notables such as Karl Marx, George Eliot, Catherine Dickens, Christina Rosetti, and John Singleton Copley, look for the grave of artist Patrick Caulfield, whose tombstone has the word DEAD sculpted into it, adding a definite note of finality.

Left to nature's course for much of the 20th century, Highgate Cemetery grew abundant in natural life, becoming "home" to 40 species of birds and at least 20 species of butterflies. Joining them are animals such as foxes, owls, and badgers. Equally abundant is the flora; ferns, ivy, and wildflowers both soften and hallow the graves—the living cradling the dead in the bosom of Mother Nature.