England's Highgate Cemetery should embrace its paranormal possibilities

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England's Highgate Cemetery should embrace its paranormal possibilities
July 23, 2009
Charles F. Rosenay
Examiner.com

n Britain in recent years, many historic sites have been embracing their ghostly history. Stately homes run by Britain's National Trust, have seen a complete reversal in the ‘don’t mention ghosts’ policy practiced in the 1980s. The government-backed English Heritage organization and numerous individual historic sites have followed this example, and now cheerfully promote the folklore and supernatural history for interested visitors.
Photos by Lana Lutz
A marked exception remains Highgate Cemetery in North London. Opened in 1839, it is London’s premier necropolis, where over 100,000 famous and ordinary folk have been interred in tombs great and small. In 1975 when it had fallen into a ruined state, it was taken over by a charity, Friends of Highgate Cemetery, who have exerted total control over the site ever since. Around 30 to 40 burials still take place each year. However, over the years, custodians have displayed a hostility to any expression by visitors in the supernatural who come on visits. The latest group to encounter this attitude were members of the American based ‘Tours of Terror’ who visited in May 2009, and were apparently rumbled after having left a “GHOSTour” sign in the window of their coach. Before entering the graveyard, the tour leader was forced to sign an agreement stating that he will never publish anything about Highgate Cemetery's ghost or vampire connection ever again.
This attitude of disdain to American ghost-seekers in the past is long standing. I remember my first visit to the cemetery in November 1984, arranged by ghost hunter Malcolm Ramplin of Hadleigh. In responding to a question about the vampire stories, the guide witheringly replied that this was just something that ‘stupid Americans’ fell for – seemingly oblivious to the fact a third of the party present that day were Americans! However, British visitors have faced just the same - one haunted London guidebook by author Richard Jones even issues a warning!
This time around the tour received a blast from the recently retired Mrs. Jean Pateman, active in Highgate Cemetery affairs since 1975, who has become renowned for her animosity to any visitors expressing any interest in the supernatural. Mrs Pateman’s line has been adopted by the charity maintaining the cemetery, resulting in a less-than-visitor-friendly experience. The Friends of Highgate Cemetery, the charity running the site and controlling access, are always pleading poverty, given the immense amounts paid out in annually maintaining the crumbling tombs. But they do not seem to have worked out that many young people, such as colorful goths and punks with blue hair aren’t predominantly drawn to the place because of an overwhelming interest in Victorian funereal architecture. Otherwise the mood of the site is determined very much by the season. Heavily overgrown, in the winter, the cemetery can be a distinctly eerie place; in the summer the trees and vegetation make it a delightful and relaxing spot for tranquil repose.
Photos by Lana Lutz
Opposition to anything related to the supernatural stems from all the trouble at Highgate in the late 60s and early 70s. All kinds of rumors involving ghosts, black magic cults and vampires flourished, initially stimulated by excited letters to the local press. The story spread that a vampire walked at Highgate and made its lair in the cemetery. In March 1970, following a TV broadcast hundreds of people descended on the cemetery in a mass ghost/vampire hunt worthy of the ending of a horror film – several claimed they saw a fast moving shadowy figure. Police had to be called to disperse the crowd, some of whom had come armed with home-made stakes and crosses to tackle the vampire! At the same time a number of dead foxes were found in the cemetery, allegedly drained of blood. Unfortunately there was also a lot of vandalism in the following years and cases of graves being desecrated and tombs opened. In some cases human remains were stolen or and used in bizarre rituals by pseudo-occultists. Clearly, the events of a generation ago have contributed to guides today being so touchy when such subjects are raised.
The problem is that once a legend is created, it can’t easily be stopped, and certainly the approach taken at Highgate has failed. One feels that, in light of the costs of running the cemetery being so high, some thought ought to be given to better ways of managing the continuing public interest in the cemetery, which, in the opinion of expert folklorist Dr. Jacqueline Simpson and Jennifer Westwood ‘looks set to become a permanent part of London’s folklore’ (2006's "The Lore of the Land").
Of course, there is a difficult job of balancing the needs of a working cemetery and preserving the dignity of a burial ground with public interest, albeit that there are relatively few modern internments in the North side which has the centre of local ghostlore since the 1960s. A few specially-guided and respectful tours which acknowledge the supernatural folklore will do much to dilute and curb the annual adolescent hysteria and prevent any repetition of the unfortunate events of earlier years. The peak of interest naturally occurs around Hallowe’en and still poses a nuisance but could be stopped by a few tours before October comes. Importantly, it could be a lucrative source of much-needed revenue as well as engaging people in a more serious way.
As for ghosts, there remain tales of a ghostly mad woman searching for her children, and the story that a baleful face of a tall apparition is seen peering through the cemetery gates at visitors. “That sums up my experience,” said one of the GHOSTour travelers of her visit.
Highgate Cemetery will hopefully continue to be a stop on Tours of Terror's GHOSTour to England (www.GHOSTour.com).
Thanks to Alan Murdie, paranormal researcher and former Chairman of "The Ghost Club," for providing this article, based upon a recent piece in Fortean Times magazine. Website: www.forteantimes.com.