Douglas Adams’ Grave — Highgate Cemetery, London
Douglas Adams (1952–2001) · Highgate Cemetery East, London
Photo: August Schwerdfeger / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0), the photo used in the Street Art Utopia post. Full photograph shown.
The grave of Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, lies on the East side of Highgate Cemetery in London. Readers leave pens and pencils at the memorial, whose headstone describes him simply as a writer. Source Source Checked
Seen Apr 2026 — a Geograph photo taken on April 17, 2026, shows the headstone with pens set in the ground. Source Checked
More photos
💡 4 things to know
- Pens for a writerA visitor described fans leaving pens and pencils in the vase at Adams’s grave. Source Reported
- On the East sideA 2024 visitor found Adams’s grave while walking around the cemetery’s East side. Source Reported
- A familiar numberDuring that visit, the grave was decorated with ornaments bearing the number 42, which the visitor tied to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Source Reported
- A tiny headstoneIn August 2015 Martin Goodman called it a tiny gravestone and described readers placing pens before it in a stone tub. Source Reported
📍 Where it is
Highgate Cemetery East, London, United Kingdom. Source Checked
Opens a map at the grave’s coordinates.
🗓️ Sightings
- 20151 Apr
A visitor describes pens and pencils in the vase at Adams’s grave
- 20157 Aug
Martin Goodman describes readers placing pens in a stone tub
- 202423 Sep
A visitor saw a potful of pens and ornaments bearing the number 42
- 202617 Apr
Rossographer photographed the Adams memorial, with pens set in the ground
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.
✅ The facts
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- London Museum — Highgate Cemetery (London Stories) — undated
- Nat Newman — Visiting Highgate Cemetery — 2015-04-01
- Martin Goodman — Highgate Cemetery & Douglas Adams — 2015-08
- Epping Forest Outdoor Group — Visit to Highgate Cemetery — 2024-09-23
- Geograph — Memorial to Douglas Adams, Rossographer — 2026-04-17
- Hero image: August Schwerdfeger / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0), the photo used in the Street Art Utopia post; the 16:9 share image is made from it.
Last checked: November 13, 2026 · How we verify art
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