£6.7m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will help protect Highgate Cemetery in north London from climate change. The Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust will use the money as part of a wider £19.5m restoration and conservation programme. The five-year scheme is the first phase of a 25-year masterplan focused on preserving heritage while improving public access and community engagement. Heavier winter rainfall has worsened long-standing maintenance problems. Planned work includes installing a new drainage system to reduce waterlogging and collect rainwater, improving paths, and removing trees affected by ash dieback to enable climate-resilient planting. Entrance courtyard accessibility will improve, more toilets will be added, and a new “living room” venue in the Dissenters’ Chapel will host workshops and exhibitions. Conservation will restore Grade I-listed Egyptian Avenue and Circle of Lebanon, including reinstating an obelisk at the avenue entrance.
"Efforts to protect north London’s historic Highgate Cemetery from the effects of climate change have received a 6.7m boost from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust, which owns and manages the cemetery, said the funding would support a wider 19.5m restoration and conservation programme. The five-year scheme forms the first phase of a 25-year masterplan aimed at preserving the cemetery’s heritage while improving public access and community engagement."
"Trust chief executive Dr Ian Dungavell said one of the site’s biggest challenges was climate change, with heavier winter rainfall worsening long-standing maintenance problems dating back to before the cemetery came under charitable ownership in 1975. Planned work includes installing a new drainage system to reduce waterlogging and collect rainwater for use around the site. Paths will also be improved, while trees affected by ash dieback disease will be removed to encourage new, climate-resilient planting."
"Dungavell said much of the work would be invisible to visitors, who value the cemetery’s “romantic, overgrown look” and its atmosphere as a “place apart from the everyday”. He added: “This grant is a vote of confidence in plans that will preserve what makes Highgate Cemetery special and respect the needs of grave-owners, while opening it up to many more people.”"
"The project also includes improvements to the entrance courtyard to make it more accessible, the addition of more toilets and the opening of a new “living room” venue inside the Dissenters’ Chapel later this year for workshops and exhibitions. Conservation work will restore the Grade I-listed Egyptian Avenue and Circle of Lebanon, including reinstating one of the obelisks at the avenue entrance."
#climate-change-adaptation #heritage-conservation #highgate-cemetery #restoration-and-drainage #public-access-and-community-engagement
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