Eventually 9 acres of land were purchased from the Earl of Winchlesea and the Committee set up an open competition and invited designs in the forms of drawings and specifications for “ roads & paths and laying out and planting a new burial ground containing 6.5 acres, enclosing the ground, building a lodge with entrance gates, building two chapels either separate or attached, with complete fitting and accommodation for not fewer than 50 persons, the total cost not to exceed the sum of £2000.

The design chosen was by Messers Bellamy & Hardy, Architects of Lincoln and their design was constructed in 1856 by the General Contractor, Mr Whitworth of Newark.

There have now been 36,000 burials within the cemetery with some Common Graves from the previous two centuries having up to 5 burials in each plot.

The Cemetery lies close to the Town Centre on London Road and was not just conceived and built as a memorial and resting place but also as a park for the people of the town.

The cemetery is also important internationally as it contains the Polish War Cemetery and was the historical burial place of General Sikorski ( the wartime leader of Poland ) whose body has now been retuned to Poland, but whose memorial remains.

The Cemetery currently has both areas for burials and a Garden of Remembrance for cremated remains.

It now also has a Memorial to the Fallen of Newark commemorating those military personnel who lost their lives in conflict since 1914.