Prayers at Highgate

WHEN NEXT YOU FIND YOURSELF IN LONDON with nothing in particular to do, take a walk westwards from the Archway underground station and along Chester Road until you reach the southern entrance to Highgate cemetery. Resist, if you can, the peculiar and varied attractions of this hallowed plot and turn your attention instead to the building which stands opposite the cemetery gates. It was erected a little over sixty years ago and is a fascinating example of its period. I would not care, on oath, to say what particular architectural style it represents, but diffidently suggest that it might perhaps be ‘Carnegie eclectic’. You may now guess what purpose this building serves. It is a public library.