At the beginning of 1875, the vicar felt that the churchyard was becoming overcrowded. A series of meetings took place and a request was made to the Home Secretary to close the churchyard. A representative inspected the area and judged that from the annual amount of burials, "it was ample for the parish for twenty more years", but as it was the unanimous wish of the people, he recommended that it be closed on 30 June 1876.
A vestry meeting was held to determine whether a burial ground should be provided and to appoint a Burial Board. The Board inspected various sites in the neighbourhood and in October 1875, a meeting was held in the vestry. Upon seeing the large number of attendees, when the vicar arrived he opened the door and then retired! A little while later after realising that the vicar had not returned, a messenger was sent to ask the vicar to take the chair, but the messenger returned with the message that vicar was practising with his choir. The messenger was despatched again only to return with the news that the vicar had gone home! It was then proposed and seconded that Mr Edward CHAPMAN, a blacksmith, and one of the churchwardens be appointed as the chair. As the vestry was too small, the meeting was then adjourned to the National School across the road. A stormy meeting ensued where it was hard to hear the chairman, but the motion of £2,000 to provide a new cemetery and the necessary chapels was approved.
In March 1876, the Burial Board held a meeting at the Cross Keys Inn to consider tenders for erecting two chapels, a house, and other appurtenances on the new three acres cemetery ground. Three tenders were received:
Mr G. LUMLEY (Winterton), £1,260
Mr G. BRAY (Winterton), £1,240 8s 6d
Mr SUTTON (Scawby), £1,231
Seven members of the Board were present and after a tie, the Chair (Mr J. POPPLE) gave his casting vote to Mr SUTTON.
Located at the eastern end of the town, the first burial in the cemetery took place in 1876 and is still in current use. The left handside of the cemetery generally contains Church of England burials, and the right handside, non-conformist burials. The cemetery is well maintained all year round, and in 2012 won the CPRE Northern Lincolnshire Best Kept Cemetery award.