The Holleford Crater

Photo by contributor LeeAnn Beer - Posted July, 2004

Plaque Location

The County of Frontenac
The Township of South Frontenac
About 5 km northeast of Hartington, north of Kingston
on Road 38 - plaque is parallel to the road, so not easily spotted until directly opposite - it's on the fence line just west of a barn on which is a sign "Crater Farm" and is slightly lower than road level

Coordinates: N 44 27.358 W 76 37.724

Plaque Text

A meteorite travelling 55,000 kilometres per hour smashed into the earth here eons ago, blasting a hole 244 metres deep and 2.5 kilometres wide. Aerial photographs revealed the crater in 1955, and since then scientists have pieced together much of its geological history. Analyses of drill samples suggest that the meteorite struck in the late Precambrian or early Cambrian period (between 450 and 650 million years ago). At first the depression filled with water becoming a circular lake. Later Palaeozoic seas swept in sediments filling the crater to its present depth of about 30 metres. The explosive impact of the meteorite (estimated to have been only 90 metres in diameter) is still evident in the hundreds of metres of shattered rock that drilling has detected beneath the original crater floor.

Related Ontario plaque page
Brent Crater

More
Information

More
Landforms

Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

Posted October 17, 2011
I am a relative of the owner of the Crater Farm and a distant relative of Jack Babcock. Though Jack did visit the homestead this was not his homestead. It was his uncle's home. Just thought I would put that out there.

Posted June 18, 2011
Map is showing wrong location - waaaaay wrong. Should be: 44.455962,-76.628737 - LeeAnn Beer [Thanks. Fixed.]

Posted February 22, 2010
Hello! "Me again", after our most enjoyable drive to see the crater and plaque last summer; after which I emailed you, and thank you for writing up the clarification of its exact location. Now here is an "off-topic" subject about that farm, which is probably not relevant but I thought I'd let you know. The farm was the childhood home of Jack Babcock, Canada's oldest First World War veteran (b.July 23 1900. d.Feb. 18 2010). (Source: The Globe and Mail: Sat.Feb.20,2010. P.M12).
Sincerely, Dave Welham

Posted August 22, 2008
I stumbled on this quite by accident this morning out taking early fall color changes.I did not know this exsisted till now.

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