Seven Magnificent Walks: Overview

Introduction

Highgate West Cemetery

When I moved to London, I got charmed by the organic growth of Highgate Cemetery. I only know cemeteries organised in dam patterns where there is no room for old graves or natural development. Walking past the old graves, you wonder about the stories behind them and what London life in the 19th century must have been like. As walking is my passion, I got inspired to create a walk connecting the Magnificent Seven Cemeteries.

The Magnificent Seven are seven beautiful Victorian landscaped cemeteries built between 1832 and 1840 to respond to the overcrowding of local parish cemeteries. The cemeteries are not only burial grounds but also beautiful hidden gardens, some of them are classified nature reserves.

The seven walks span a total of 82 kilometres or 51 miles and partially follow other trails such as the Capital Ring Walk and the New River Path. The walks are available via the MapMyRun tool on my blog or you can download the PDF on your phone, so you can access the routes even when offline.

Overview of the seven walks

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRun

Route	Scenic Rating	Distance	Highlights
Nunhead to West Norwood	*****	12.6km 6.2mi	View of St Paul’s from Nunhead Cemetery Horniman Gardens Dulwich Woods Sydenham Woods
West Norwood to Brompton	***	16km 10mi	Shortcut 11km: skip Norwood to Battersea Park Albert Bridge Battersea Park
Bromtpon to Kensal Green	****	11km 7mi	Emily Pankhurst at West Brompton Cemetery Carmelite Monastery Gardens Holland Park
Kensal Green to Highgate	*****	14km 9mi	Charles Blondin at Kensal Green Cemetery Little Venice and Regent’s Canal Primrose Hill Hampstead Village Spaniards Inn Panoramic view from Hampstead Heath
Highgate to Abney Park	*****	9km 5.6mi	Highgate West Cemetery Karl Marx in Highgate East Cemetery Panoramic View from Waterlow Park Parkland Walk East and West Water Reservoirs
Abney Park to Tower Hamlets	****	11km 7mi	New River Walk in Canonbury Regent’s Canal and Victoria Park
Tower Hamlets to Nunhead	***	14km 9mi	Shortcut 5km: skip South Park to Nunhead Thames Path and Tower Bridge Pubs: Prospect of Whitby/Town of Ramsgate Banksy stencil and the Old Justice Pub

Highlights

My favourite cemetery: Highgate West Cemetery is only accessible via a guided tour but it is the most beautiful of them all and definitely worth a visit. If you gather around the gate at the hour, a guide will be waiting for you to take you on a one hour tour for around £7.

My favourite memorials: 
Karl Marx (Highgate East Cemetery)
Emily Pankhurst, leader of the suffragette movement (Brompton Cemetery)
Charles Blondin, a famous tightrope walker (Kensal Green Cemetery)

If you are interested in the history and the hall of fame of the seven cemeteries, I can recommend downloading the book: The Magnificent Seven, London's first landscaped cemeteries from John Turpin and Derrick Knight (Amberley Publishing; available on Kindle). Some cemeteries offer a map showing where you can find the graves. Most graves are surrounded with Victorian symbols. A broken pillar, for example, refers to a life cut short. An overview of the 10 most used Victorian grave symbols can be found on the website of the friends of Nunhead Cemetery.

My favourite pubs:
The Old Justice, the prospect of Whitby and the Town of Ramsgate (Tower Hamlets to Nunhead)
The Union Tavern in Westbourne Park & The Spaniards Inn in Hampstead (Kensal Green to Highgate)

Favourite Landmarks: 
Albert Bridge (Norwood to Brompton; especially after dark)
The panoramic views of St Paul’s at Nunhead Cemetery (Nunhead to West Norwood)
The panoramic view from Hampstead Heath & cosy Hampstead village (Kensal Green to Hampstead)
The new river walk in Canonbury (Abney Park to Tower Hamlets)
And of course, the views from the Thames (Tower Hamlets to Nunhead)

Tips

Bring some water and snacks with you as some areas might be quiet desolate and have no shops around.

Check the opening hours of the cemeteries. Most of them are open during the weekend until 4pm (5pm latest). It's best to visit the cemetery at the start of the walk rather than at the end.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to only cover parks and in the routes. The following routes have some parts mainly following the roads: Norwood to Brompton (first half of the walk between Norwood and Battersea Park) and Tower Hamlets to Nunhead (second half of the walk from Surrey Quays/South Park to Nunhead). In the walk description you will find recommendations to shortcut the route via public transport.

Some of the cemeteries are still active but this is usually in a separate area.

The Seven Cemeteries

Nunhead: http://www.fonc.org.uk/

West Norwood: http://www.fownc.org/

Brompton: http://www.brompton-cemetery.org/

Kensal Green: http://www.kensalgreencemetery.com/

Highgate: http://highgatecemetery.org/

Abney Park: http://www.abneypark.org/

Tower Hamlets: http://www.fothcp.org/

Routes included in the walk

Capital Ring Walk, Thames Path and other routes: http://www.walklondon.org.uk 

The New River Path: http://shelford.lucidata.com/index.htm

Walking London’s waterways: http://canalrivertrust.org.uk

Horniman Gardens (Nunhead to West Norwood)

Greek Necropolis in West Norwood Cemetery

Albert Bridge near Battersea Park (West Norwood to Brompton)

Brompton Cemetery

Belsize Lane (Kensal Green to Highgate)

Karl Marx @ Highgate East Cemetery

Regent's Canal (Abney Park to Tower Hamlets)

Tower Hamlets Cemetery

Wapping (Tower Hamlets to Nunhead)