Highgate Cemetery in north London is set to charge upwards of £25,000 for burial spots close to Karl Marx’s grave.
The famous graveyard, which is home to 53,000 burial spots and is visited by thousands of tourists a year, will build new graves after securing £100,000 of National Lottery funding to help its conservation work.
The site will now make space near the tomb of German philosopher Marx, which is a Grade I listed monument. He died on March 14 1883.
It costs upwards of £25,000 to secure a full grave at the cemetery while cremation plots cost around £5,000, the Telegraph reports.
An £18 million project, taking place over seven years, was launched on Tuesday to ensure Highgate "remains an active burial ground and a vital sanctuary for heritage, nature and community".
The most urgent works at the cemetery include conservation of the Grade I-listed Egyptian Avenue and Grade II-listed Terrace Catacombs, as well as restoring views over London, the cemetery has said.
The 37-acre site is the resting place of George Michael, George Eliot, Douglas Adams and Lucian Freud.
The cemetery will fund the revamp through the Heritage Fund and is allocating reserves for the vital work. It is also looking to raise £1.2 million in donations.
Ian Dungavell, chief executive of the cemetery, said that new burials were important to keep Highgate a "living" attraction.
He told the newspaper: "What makes Highgate Cemetery so interesting is that it is living heritage, not just a relic.
"It is still a place where things are happening now, where people are buried, and where people come to remember them."
The cemetery was granted permission to clear old graves and make new burials under the Highgate Cemetery Act 2022.
Only long-abandoned graves are being considered for renewal, according to the cemetery’s website.
Graves that are more than 75 years old or that are empty may be renewed "with the greatest respect of grave owners and those buried in the cemetery".
