The village of Reninghelst (now Reningelst) was occupied by Commonwealth forces from the late autumn of 1914 to the end of the war and was sufficiently far from the front line to provide a suitable station for field ambulances. The earliest burials took place in the churchyard, but in November 1915, the New Military Cemetery was opened. It remained in use until September 1918. There are now 798 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery, including John Towell, originally from Empingham but serving with Canadian forces. The cemetery is also the last resting place of two Canadian brothers who lie a few metres apart, John and Magrath Godwin. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.