Highgate Cemetery in London is almost full. Can old graves be reused?

In death, as in life, it is expensive to be around famous people.

There is hardly any room left Highgate Cemeterya victorian cemetery in north london where Karl Marx, George Michael and George Eliot are buried, as well as 170,000 other Londoners. The price of a grave to rest in peace? It starts at 25,000 British pounds, or $31,700.

This price has attracted attention in British media this week, after the historic site notified the public, it began the process of adding new graves.

Many noted the capitalist irony of such a high price tag, suggesting that the high fee for a plot near Karl Marx would make the so-called father of communism “turn in my grave.» Marx's tomb is the main attraction for the cemetery, and visitors pay 10 pounds, or about $12, to explore the grounds.

“Cemeteries are quite expensive places to maintain,” said Ian Dungavell, chief executive of the charity that runs Highgate Cemetery, adding that the shrinking space on the property has partly contributed to the high cost of burials there. “We're still dealing with very limited resources.”

(There was “no upside,” he said, to being around Marx. “It's just the price.”)

But the group's seemingly capitalistic approach is part of an existential problem facing other cemeteries in Britain and elsewhere: how can a gravedigger continue to operate if it runs out of space?

“We have a huge problem of places for burials.”

Cremations are said to be popular in most parts of Britain surveys by the Cremation Society this suggests that more than 70 percent of the deceased have chosen this method over the past two decades. By comparison, about 59 percent died in the US were cremated in 2022.

But even with high levels of cremation, Britain faces a shortage of graves in many areas. Experts say there is no more room in some of London's cemeteries, and other cities are not far behind.

“Crisis is an appropriate word,” said Helen Frisby, a historian and research fellow at the University of Bath. “We have a big problem of places for burials.”

Law enforcement agencies are checking current funeral regulations, but the addition of new plots at Highgate Cemetery will make it one of the few funeral authorities in London that can reuse graves. The practice could help cemeteries survive, experts say, challenging the idea of ​​an “eternal burial.” European countries have adapted short-term plot rentals or grave recycling to cope with overcrowding.

Legislation in 2022 gave Highgate Cemetery the power to reclaim old and unused graves, a process it optimistically described as “renovation of the grave.” Empty graves and graves where burials took place more than 75 years ago can legally be repurposed.

The proposal would only affect about 500 graves in the cemetery at the moment, Dr Dungavel said. Some grave owners were last registered in the 1870s. Others were simply too difficult to track down, and the cemetery spread the word by posting public notices of plots slated for rezoning. The owners of these graves have until July to object to their reuse.

For uncontested graves, existing remains will be buried deeper in the same location and new burials will be made over them.

The idea is controversial, as was evident during a visit to the cemetery this week. Even on a chilly day, visitors made their way through the tree-lined paths to receive epitaphs from artists, philosophers and beloved residents.

“It's a bit of a saint for me,” said Thomas Swinburne, 57, who visited London from northeast England. “The body is at rest. I wouldn't want any of my family members to be bothered like that.''

“I'd hate to kill this place.”

Built in 1839 on the outskirts of the city, Highgate is part of a group of Victorian cemeteries known as 'Magnificent seven.” As London's population grew, private cemeteries were developed to solve the problem of overcrowding in existing church cemeteries.

Now it is close to complete. Dr Dungavel said his team looked at cemetery maps to find gaps. In the past, they have filled earth over existing graves to create new burial sites, or narrowed existing paths to create more cremation spaces. (They start at 5,000 pounds, or $6,300.) “I wouldn't want to clog up the place any further,” he said.

Other ideas he is exploring include shared repositories for those cremated. There is a group also relying on financing help preserve nature on your site and make it more accessible to visitors.

But despite all efforts, the price tag for a funeral is still high.

“It's very strange that these very expensive graves are located near one of our most vocal critics of capitalism,” said Julie Rugg, a social policy researcher at the University of York. But, she said, the new system was a pragmatic response to the need to protect the site, and that the money would help manage it.

Dr Frisby said the cost of a grave at Highgate Cemetery was unusual for Britain and that graves usually cost thousands of pounds, not tens of thousands. But, according to her, there was a “social overlay” in the burial on such a historic land.

“This is a very prestigious cemetery. He is able to manage these fees,” she said. “Most cemeteries can't.”

Some visitors to Highgate said it was time to look at different ways for loved ones to rest.

“If you don't have enough space, you have to think of new ways,” said Marlis Graf, 34, a tourist from Germany visiting Karl Marx's grave. “I'm actually a fan eco-burial, where we have no tombstones or anything at all. Just trees.”

The decision to redo a grave is ultimately a personal one, said Mackenzie Parker, 31, who was admiring the headstones with a friend. Her family is Roman Catholic and Ms Parker said she would be opposed to her relative's grave being redone for religious reasons.

But she wouldn't be offended by the request, she said — the more the cemetery encourages people to share their stories, the better: “Their families can know they're in such a beautiful, ancient and protected place.”