Ep 228: Highgate Cemetery

Blurry Photos

David Flora

Science, Social Sciences, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2023

⏱️ 103 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Blurry Photober is late this year, but David is back with an episode all about Highgate Cemetery! An incredible feat of gothic greatness, Highgate Cemetery has an interesting history and hauntings to boot. David had the fortune to take a tour of the Grade I historic location, and also interviewed the tour guide, John Waite. John and David go over the history of the cemetery, including its inception, how it fell to disrepair, and how it was revived. David then gets into the history of the hauntings which are said to happen. Mysterious top-hatted figures, forlorn spectres, and rumors of vampires have plagued the boneyard for decades. David discusses these stories as well as the infamous occultist feud between David Farrant and Sean Manchester. Take a history-heavy tour of a hauntingly beautiful location in this episode of Blurry Photos!

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Music
Danse Macabre, Lightless Dawn, Ossuary 5 - Rest, Phantasm, Zombie Hoodoo – Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Sources
Jarvis, Jacob. Highgate Cemetery mourns loss of 200-year-old cedar tree which ‘felt like the death of a relative’. The Standard. London. Aug. 10, 2019. Web. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/highgate-cemetery-mourns-loss-of-iconic-cedar-of-lebanon-which-felt-like-the-death-of-a-relative-a4207976.html

Hussein, Meyrem. Highgate Cemetery ghost or trick of the light? Photographer snaps suspected spectre. Ham & High. London. Dec. 5, 2012. Web. https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/21383368.highgate-cemetery-ghost-trick-light-photographer-snaps-suspected-spectre/

Volpe, Sam. Highgate ‘vampire hunter’ dies half a century after supernatural panic gripped community. Ham & High. London. Apr. 24, 2019. Web. https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/lifestyle/21353447.highgate-vampire-hunter-dies-half-century-supernatural-panic-gripped-community/

My Noiseless Friend. New Zealand Herald. Vol. V, Issue 1531. Page 7. Oct. 21, 1868. Web. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18681021.2.36

Kemp, Sam. The Strange Tale of the Highgate Vampire. Far Out Magazine. UK. Aug. 4, 2022. Web. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/strange-tale-of-highgate-vampire/

Garcia, Francisco. The Decades-Long Rivalry of London's Two Vampire Hunters. Vice. Feb. 5, 2020. Web. https://www.vice.com/en/article/akwkgj/highgate-vampire-history-sean-manchester
Farrant, David. The Highgate Vampire. David Farrant Website. UK. Web. https://davidfarrant.org/the-highgate-vampire/

Galton, Bridget. The ghosts of Hampstead and Highgate. Ham & High. London. Oct. 13, 2019. Web. https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/23846558.ghosts-hampstead-highgate/

Staff. The Horror of the Dead. The Unredacted. Dec. 5, 2016. Web. https://theunredacted.com/the-highgate-vampire-horror-of-the-dead/

Quackenbush, Thomm. THE BIZARRE TRUE STORY OF THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE FEUD. Grunge. Aug. 21, 2023. Web. https://www.grunge.com/402692/the-bizarre-true-story-of-the-highgate-vampire-feud/

Ian. The Highgate Vampire – How It All Began – by David Farrant. Mysterious Britain & Ireland. Mar. 15, 2009. Web. https://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/hauntings/the-highgate-vampire-how-it-all-began-by-david-farrant/

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Transcript

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0:18.8	Far spread below doth London wear, its cloud by day, its fire by night, yet scarce with heavenly presence there shined in the smoke or pallid light.
0:26.3	Dappled ashen stone replete with twisting vines and dripping moss riddles the gentle nooks and slopes of Highgate Hill,
0:35.0	lacerated by reposeful meandering pathways.
0:40.0	Like a Gothic bazaar presenting wares to pass her by, tombs, sculptures, headstones, obelisks, and angels stand dutifully, nestled within a dense
0:52.4	quilt of trees, flowers, and shrubs.
0:57.2	Mausoleums huddled together among architecture of various entrancing exotic styles.
1:04.2	One moment you're in ancient Egypt, another ancient Rome.
1:09.5	Incessant troops from that vast throng withdraw to silent colonies, where houses low are fair and strong,
1:18.6	though ruins all that dwell in these.
1:24.3	The air and atmosphere are old here.
1:27.7	Though its inhabitants draw breath no more, history is alive and palpable.
1:33.0	Shadowed and hushed a world within a world.
1:37.0	The silence of tens of thousands of souls speaks volumes to those who pause and pay attention.
1:44.0	Yet within this hallowed hidden haven,
1:48.0	not every soul is said to rest in peace.
1:51.0	Strange phantoms, black magic, anomalous mists, and a spade of vampire hysteria have seemingly
1:59.6	plagued this otherwise sublime necropolis for ages, prompting people to ask,
2:07.0	is this a beautiful parcel of perfect land for the dead, or an area of ominous oddness where the dead aren't quite as quiet as we think.
2:19.7	Yet neat the universal sky, bright children here too run and sing.
2:25.0	Calm Verder waxes green and high, and graveside roses smell of Spring.
2:33.8	In Highgate Cemetery by William Allingham.
2:38.4	We're visiting Highgate Cemetery on this episode of Blurry Fotober.
	...

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