Elderbrook, Ontario · Since 1847
A quiet place, kept with care.
For 179 years Hollowmere has been where Elderbrook remembers. We look after families, the grounds and the stories, and we are here when you need us.
A death has occurred
We will guide you through every step
Call any time, day or night. We work alongside your funeral home and take care of the details at the cemetery.
What to do first→24-hour line (519) 555-0199Planning ahead
Make your wishes known
Choose a place, lock in today's prices and spare your family hard decisions later. Interest-free payments up to five years.
Explore planning ahead→Visiting + research
Find someone, or simply walk
Search 6,200 burial records, plan your visit with our grounds map, or join a guided walk through 179 years of Elderbrook.
Search burial records→
Welcome to Hollowmere
Forty-two acres of memory, in the hollow north of the mill
In 1847 Captain Josiah Thorne sold a wet, wooded hollow to the town of Elderbrook for one shilling, on one condition: that it be kept "so long as the Mere shall fill." The pond still fills every spring, and we are still keeping it.
Hollowmere is a non-profit cemetery run by a volunteer board and a staff of nine. Every family is served by a person who knows the grounds, and every grave, from the 1848 marble tablet to last week's fieldstone in the meadow, is cared for in perpetuity by a protected trust fund.
- Founded
- 1847
- Founded
- People at rest
- 11,400
- People at rest
- Trees, 48 species
- 600+
- Trees, 48 species
- Acres of grounds
- 42
- Acres of grounds
If someone has just died, you do not have to know what to do next.
Call us at any hour. A member of our family services team will answer, explain the next steps and stay with you through them.
The grounds
Eleven sections, one walk through Elderbrook's history
From the Pioneer Ground's soft marble to the restored tallgrass of the Natural Meadow, each part of Hollowmere tells you when it was made.
- FRidgeviewLimited availability · 1900 – 1970
- CMill Pond SlopeLimited availability · 1880 – 1950
- JMemorial GardenAvailable · 1985 – today
- GElm WalkLimited availability · 1930 – 1990
- KArbour RidgeAvailable · 1975 – today
- MNatural MeadowAvailable · 2014 – today
- Sections A, B, E, H and D are closed to new sales but open to visitors every day.
Coming up
Tours, services + gatherings
Oct23Tours
Lights Among the Stones: Lantern Tour
Friday · 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Meet at the Main Gate
Nov2Remembrance
All Souls Evening of Remembrance
Monday · 6:00 pm
Thorne Chapel
Nov8Nature
Last Leaves: Arboretum Walk
Sunday · 10:00 am
Meet at the Weeping Beech
Nov11Remembrance
Remembrance Day Service
Wednesday · 10:45 am
Field of Honour cenotaph
Notable residents
The people who made Elderbrook
A miller, a schoolmistress, a blacksmith who walked to freedom, a photographer who never stopped looking. Their stories are part of every visit.
1836 – 1909 · Section B
Moses Calder
Escaped slavery in Maryland, built a forge on Mill Street and forged the chapel's iron gates.
1861 – 1943 · Section E
Eleanor Brisbane Kaye
Her 4,000 glass-plate negatives are the best record of Elderbrook ever made.
1818 – 1891 · Section A
Margaret Ferrier Lyle
Kept the first burial register in her own hand for 32 years, unpaid.
1902 – 1979 · Section G
Teodor Wiśniewski
Carved more than 300 of Hollowmere's markers and the bench by the Mere.
"When my father died in February the ground was frozen and I didn't know what that meant. Anne at the Lodge explained everything, twice, and never once made me feel rushed."
A Hollowmere family, 2025
Burial + cremation
A choice for every family, at a fair, published price
We publish every price on this website. There are no packages to decode and no pressure to decide today.
Traditional burial
from $3,950
Single, double-depth and family graves on Arbour Ridge.
Columbarium niche
from $2,900
Granite and glass-front niches in the walled Memorial Garden.
Natural burial
from $4,800
No vaults or embalming, in a restored tallgrass meadow.
Scattering lawn
from $450
With an optional name on the Memorial Garden Names Wall.
Through the year
Open every day, in every season
News from the Lodge
Latest
Restoration · September 28, 2026
The Receiving Vault needs a new roof. Here is the plan.
Our 1883 vault is leaking. A heritage mason has a plan, and we are more than halfway to the $120,000 it will cost.
Tours · September 15, 2026
Lantern tours are back for four October nights
Booking is open for Lights Among the Stones, with a new family walk on October 31.
Records · July 2, 2026
All 6,214 handwritten register entries are now searchable
Three years and 41 volunteers later, every entry from 1847 to 1960 is online.