Samuel Taylor Coleridge grave repair St Michael's Highgate

The poet's last resting place in the rubble-strewn crypt of St Michael's church is currently inaccessible to the fans who come to visit.

Lovers of the Kubla Khan and Rime of the Ancient Mariner writer have already raised money to install a statue in his birthplace of Ottery St Mary.

A patron has donated a model of a larger statue by Nicholas Dimbleby to The Coleridge Trust and it will form part of the memorial to the poet in St Michael's Church Highgate (Image: The Coleridge Trust)

And The Coleridge Trust have long wanted to refurbish his grave in Highgate, where he spent the last two decades of his life, and restore the crypt and wine cellar where he, and four family members are buried.

Trust President Sir Paul Coleridge, said they have commissioned outline architect plans which will go on display at Lauderdale House, Highgate next month.

The Kubla Khan and Rime of the Ancient Mariner poet is buried in the crypt of St Michael's Church

"What's so appalling is that this great man has been stuck at the back of a rather sad dusty cellar since 1960 odd, and we hope this is going to be the breakthrough year to make serious progress towards refurbishing the crypt," he said.

"To call it a crypt is to dignify it. You can't stand upright, it's really just the foundations of the church, a little space that's completely constricted. What's needed is a safe access from the outside so people can go without having to go through the church."

The poet was originally buried in Old Highgate Chapel, next to the main entrance of Highgate School. But when the vault was discovered to be derelict, he was re-interred in St. Michael's in 1961, along with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson.

The Kubla Khan poet spent the last 19 years of his life in Highgate and lived at No 3, The Grove (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

One of the trust's patrons has donated a model of the statue in Ottery St Mary by sculptor Nicholas Dimbleby, which will be installed inside St Michael's as a memorial to Coleridge.

Sir Paul, who is related to the poet's older brother, said he hopes the Lauderdale House event on February 24 will drum up support from local donors.

"The renovation is going to cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. We have approached the National Lottery, but we hope local worthies will also be interested.

"Coleridge lived across the road on the top floor of No 3, The Grove and was intimately involved with that church. It will certainly enhance the church in that community.

"We hope there will be a space where small events can take place. A lot of tourists come up there every year to see the grave, and when it's finished it should be a fitting place of pilgrimage."