Tomb of Herbert Spencer in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery is a Grade II listed building in the Camden local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 May 1974. Tomb.

Tomb of Herbert Spencer in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery

WRENN ID
waiting-floor-crimson
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Camden
Constituency
Hampstead and Highgate MP: Tulip Siddiq (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
14 May 1974
Type
Tomb
Address
Tomb of Herbert Spencer in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery, Swains Lane
OS grid reference
TQ 287 869
Coordinates
51.56632, -0.14398
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The tomb of Herbert Spencer is located in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery and dates from around 1903. It is a table tomb made of granite, featuring a rectangular plinth and a table tomb with inscribed recessed panels, a cornice, and a shallow hipped lid. Herbert Spencer was a notable philosopher, author, and a pioneer of sociology in Britain, known for coining the phrase "survival of the fittest."

Local climate

Tomb of Herbert Spencer in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 680 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 99% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 99% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 29 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 66% of listed buildings. Of these, 13 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • No related consent applications matched
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

See all similar buildings →

this building   1 similar   nearby listed buildings

Nearby listed buildings

  1. Tomb of George Holyoake in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery Grade II 6 m
  2. Tomb of Karl Marx and Family in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetry Grade I 13 m
  3. Tomb of George Eliot in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery Grade II 15 m
  4. Monument to Marthe Josephine Besson Grade II 40 m
  5. Monument to Leslie Stephen in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery Grade II 126 m
  6. Mausoleum of Lord Dalziel of Wooler in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery Grade II 156 m
  7. Tomb of William Friese Greene in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery Grade II 171 m
  8. Tomb of Harry Thornton in Highgate (Eastern) Cemetery Grade II 180 m
  9. 81, Swains Lane Grade II* 194 m
  10. Monument to Ferdinand Thomas Barzetti Grade II 198 m