Doan's Hollow Cemetery in Simcoe, Ontario

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Get directions 470 St. John's Road East
Simcoe, Norfolk County, Ontario Canada

Coordinates: 42.80467, -80.25373
Cemetery ID:

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About these numbers These percentages indicate the number of Find a Grave memorials that have a grave photo or GPS coordinates. We don't know the total number of burials in a cemetery, so we cannot calculate a percentage of those with memorials, photos or GPS coordinates.

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The historical address of the cemetery was:

Lynn Valley

Lots 5 and 6, Concession 3

Woodhouse Township

Norfolk County

This is a very old cemetery, with existing monuments dating back to the early 1800's. In order to protect the monuments and facilitate groundskeeping, the existing monuments have been moved from their original locations to one area of the cemetery. The pieces of about 12 broken monuments have been laid flat and set in cement. Approximately 115 standing monuments have been placed in 2 rows in a cement base.

In 2013, the Corporation of Norfolk County with the help of Norfolk County Branch OGS placed a memorial monument in the cemetery which bears the names of all of the persons known to be buried there, as well as the unknown.

The entrance to the Doan's Hollow Cemetery is a Witches Gate. Traditional beliefs held that iron would prevent witches from entering a cemetery or dwelling, and also prevent dead souls from leaving a cemetery. For this reason cemeteries were surrounded by iron fences, with an iron gate.

It is impossible to enter or leave Doan's Hollow Cemetery through the Witches Gate without pushing the turnstile and stepping over the iron bar at ground level. This is the last surviving original Witches Gate in Norfolk County.

The cemetery is considered "abandoned" and is now managed by the County of Norfolk.