Grave owners' victory in battle for the Mound
Plans to redevelop section of burial ground scrapped - for now ...
Friday, 22nd August — By Caitlin Maskell
The Mound burial site in Highgate Cemetery
CAMPAIGNING grave owners claimed a victory this week after a divisive plan to redevelop a burial ground was dropped.
The Friends of Highgate Cemetery said it had listened to the “deeply felt concerns” over its plans to build on the “Mound” where 200 people have been laid to rest.
The Gardeners’ Building project, which included a toilet, had been slammed by relatives. Some had threatened to exhume loved ones in protest.
Patrick Kiernan, whose son Felix is buried in the cemetery, and is the chair of the Association of Grave Owners of the Mound Highgate Cemetery (GOM), said: “They tried to bury bad news – but they couldn’t bury us.”
But he urged caution and warned the trust could revive the project at a later date, adding: “I think the next steps are for the trust to recognise the Mound as a respected heritage site within the cemetery and to invest in it.”
The trust has removed the Gardeners’ Building section from a wider £18million restoration project, in a planning application lodged with the Town Hall earlier this year.
A group of 71 grave owners mobilised to oppose the development, including Pamela Miles, the widow of actor Tim Pigott-Smith.
She said: “I still think of exhuming my husband’s grave.
“I don’t even like going there now. I do go, but I don’t feel the same about the place.
“I don’t think they’ve realised what this whole process has done to a lot of people. The whole situation has tainted the place.
“And now we have to wait even longer for the trust to make a decision and that’s incredibly depressing.
“I bought a double grave and the thought of going there now horrifies me.”
Some remain suspicious that the plan, part of an £18million overhaul of the famous cemetery, will be dug up again following a review.
Jane Reynolds, whose living aunt has bought a plot in the Mound, said there should have been a consultation, adding: “It feels good initially, removing the building, but now it’s what they are replacing it with.”
Cremation graves on the Mound start at £6,475 and £32,580 for full burials.
“Everybody will be delighted and relieved because when your beloved are up there on the Mound you have strong feelings about it,” said Natasha Wood, whose father Nick Wood is buried on the Mound.
She added: “The whole process has been overwhelmingly upsetting.
“There are people who have children buried there.
“To have my father there, I feel upset even talking about it but to have your child there, that is something I cannot conceive.”
The Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust said the decision “follows concerns raised by grave owners closest to the proposed site on the Mound”, adding: “These deeply felt concerns were voiced during recent engagement, and the trustees have listened carefully and acted in response.”
Its statement added: “Our masterplan is about securing Highgate Cemetery’s future – protecting its history, landscape, and role within the community for the next 100 years.
“Grave owners have expressed clear and heartfelt views on the proposed Gardeners’ Building, and we have listened.
“By making this change, we can press ahead with urgent conservation works while taking the time needed to work closely with grave owners and the wider community to find the right way to provide the essential facilities our gardening teams require.”
