CWGC Cemetery: KEMMEL CHATEAU MILITARY CEMETERY

Visiting Information

Wheelchair access possible via main entrance. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our Enquiries Section on telephone number 01628 507200.

Local Information

Kemmel Chateau Military Cemetery is located 8 kilometres south of Ieper on a road leading from the Kemmelseweg (N331), connecting Ieper to Kemmel. From Ieper town centre the Kemmelseweg is reached via the Rijselsestraat, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort) and straight on towards Armentieres (N336). 900 metres after the crossroads is the right hand turning onto the Kemmelseweg (made prominent by a railway level crossing). On reaching the village of Kemmel the first right hand turning leads onto the Reningelststraat. 600 metres along the Reningelststraat lies the right hand turning onto Nieuwstraat. 500 metres along the Nieuwstraat on the right hand side of the road lies the cemetery.

Historical Information

Kemmel Chateau was north-east of Kemmel village and the cemetery was established on the north side of the chateau grounds in December 1914. It continued to be used by divisions fighting on the southern sectors of the Belgian front until March 1918, when after fierce fighting involving both Commonwealth and French forces, the village and cemetery fell into German hands in late April. The cemetery was retaken later in the year, but in the interval it was badly shelled and the old chateau destroyed. There are now 1,135 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery and 21 from the Second World War, all dating from the Allied withdrawal ahead of the German advance of May 1940. The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.