Britain | A grave shortage

London’s cemeteries are selling second-hand graves. They need to

For sale: vintage grave, one careful owner

2BEDT51 The bust of Karl Marx looks out through the gravestones and foliage from his memorial in Highgate Cemetery, North London, UK
|Highgate

At two metres long and under a metre wide, the plot of land is bijou even by London standards. But plot 18946 is also scenic: like all the graves in Highgate Cemetery it offers an Edgar Allan Poe-ish, urns-and-ivy, discerning sort of resting place. Even more desirable are the neighbours, for just opposite is plot 24748: the original grave of one Karl Marx. Ian Dungavell, head of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust, thinks that plot 18946 could command a premium price. For graves, as for grander residences, says Mr Dungavell, “it’s about location, location, location.”

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “A grave shortage”

Walkies

From the August 20th 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Britain

Stock price information displayed on a board at the London Stock Exchange.

Britain’s brokers are diversifying and becoming less British

London’s depleted stockmarket is forcing them to change

Sculpture by Charles Jencks of DNA double helix Cambridge University.

What a buzzy startup reveals about Britain’s biotech sector

Lots of clever scientists, not enough business nous


Illustration of Kier Starmer facing away next to the stripes of the Union Jack and the stars of the EU flag

Britain’s government lacks a clear Europe policy

It should be more ambitious over getting closer to the EU


The Rachel Reeves theory of growth

The chancellor says it’s her number-one priority. We ask her what that means for Britain