Lancashire Cottage Cemetery

Lancashire Cottage Cemetery is a small British military cemetery in the Belgian village of Ploegsteert, established as a resting place for casualties of the First World War. Its name refers to a nearby cottage that served as a landmark for troops stationed in this part of the front line near the Ypres Salient — a naming convention shared by many small burial grounds established close to the trenches during the conflict.

Where is it located?

The cemetery sits within the municipality of Comines-Warneton (Dutch: Komen-Waasten), in a region that saw some of the fiercest and most sustained fighting of the entire Western Front. Its coordinates place it at roughly 50.729° N, 2.898° E, right next to the village of Ploegsteert — an area well known among battlefield historians for the sheer density of war cemeteries scattered across its fields and woodland.

Who designed the cemetery?

The layout and architectural character of Lancashire Cottage Cemetery are the work of Charles Holden, a British architect who collaborated with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in the years following the war. Holden was among the principal architects commissioned to design war cemeteries across the former battlefields of France and Belgium, and his contributions are recognized for their restrained, geometric style — a deliberate departure from ornate Victorian memorial traditions, favoring simplicity and dignity over decoration.

Who maintains the site today?

The cemetery remains under the permanent care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the organization responsible for maintaining the graves of servicemen and women from Commonwealth nations who died in the First and Second World Wars. Across West Flanders, the CWGC tends to hundreds of similar sites, preserving a consistent and recognizable appearance: neat rows of white headstones, carefully kept lawns, and modest architectural features such as boundary walls or entrance gates.

What is its place within the wider region?

Lancashire Cottage Cemetery is one of many smaller war cemeteries scattered across the Ypres Salient, an area that witnessed some of the deadliest battles of the First World War. Unlike the large, sprawling cemeteries built to consolidate casualties from across the region, smaller sites like this one were often established close to where soldiers fell or near dressing stations and forward positions. Their modest size does not diminish their historical weight — each such cemetery bears witness to specific events and units that suffered losses at that precise location and moment in the war.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get to Lancashire Cottage Cemetery? The cemetery lies near the village of Ploegsteert, within the municipality of Comines-Warneton, close to the border between the province of Hainaut and West Flanders. The area is easily reached from the nearby town of Ypres, a common starting point for visitors touring First World War battlefield sites.

Is the cemetery open to visitors? Like most sites maintained by the CWGC, Lancashire Cottage Cemetery is open to the public year-round and free to visit. The commission maintains these grounds first and foremost as burial sites, asking visitors to treat them with the same respect given to any cemetery rather than as conventional tourist attractions.

Where does the cemetery's name come from? The name derives from a nearby cottage that served as a recognizable landmark for British troops holding this section of the front during the First World War — a common practice along the Western Front, where cemeteries were frequently named after local features close to where they were established.