Site: Karl Marx grave (1 memorial)
N6, Swain's Lane, Highgate Cemetery - East
As a rule we don't "do" graves but here's an exception. More a memorial than a grave this edifice has always attracted huge numbers of visitors. In 1884, on the first anniversary of Marx's death, between 5 and 6,000 people marched from Tottenham Court Road to the grave only to be turned away by police who, afraid of riots, had closed the cemetery. Marx was initially buried about 100m north but in 1956, in response to the interest in the grave, it was moved to its present location and this impressive memorial erected, funded by the British Communist Party. The original gravestone is incorporated into the plinth. A ceremony is still held here annually on the anniversary of his death, to the minute, at 2.30 pm.
Is Marx's grave a communist plot?
A scene in the 1966 film ‘Morgan! A Suitable Case for Treatment’ was intended to take place at this grave but filming on the site was prohibited so the grave was reconstructed in Kensal Rise cemetery, where filming was allowed. (Reported on the Radio 4 programme “Free Thinking” by Stephen Frears, an assistant director on the film.) We will have to watch the film again.
