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Photo courtesy of the Trustees of Reservations. With a recent expansive land acquisition in Millis and Sherborn, the Trustees of Reservations can create a water trail connecting the navigable waterways in many of its properties.
3-13-2024 3:30pm
Trustees of Reservations Acquire 195-Acre Millborn Farm in Sherborn and Millis
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Thanks to the Trustees of Reservations for contributing this news to Westwood Minute.
SHERBORN, Mass. – The Trustees of Reservations on March 12, 2024 announced that it has acquired Millborn Farm, a beautiful 195-acre property with frontage on the Charles River that is situated in the towns of Sherborn and Millis in the heart of the Charles River Valley, and envisions opening it to the public for outdoor recreation and exploration in about two years.
The Trustees’ vision for the property includes opening it to the public for self-guided exploration and passive recreation such as birdwatching, hiking, horseback riding, and snowshoeing. Given the extensive waterfront, Trustees engagement staff will collaborate with Trustees ecologists to determine how best to provide water access, which could include boardwalks, viewing platforms, a kayak launch or managed shoreline access.
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The Trustees' purchase was made possible in part by at $750,000 grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Fundraising will continue to support reservation activation costs and an endowment for its long-term care. Activation costs include studying the ecological, agricultural, and cultural resources, designing, and installing signage, parking, and clearing, grading and maintaining trails.
“It is a tremendous honor for The Trustees to protect this property forever and share it with the public,” said Katie Theoharides, president and CEO of The Trustees. “The work now begins to get the property ready for visitors."
The property includes 195 acres of open landscape crisscrossed by stonewall-lined hay fields, forestland, farm lanes, and more than a mile of waterfront along the Charles River, Bogastow Brook and South End Pond. The farm contains 75 acres of hayfields and grasslands that support native pollinators, plants, and wildlife. The property also includes river floodplain, which is critical for water quality protection and flood storage, especially during storm events.
The protection of land like this contributes to the resiliency of landscapes in the face of climate change, say The Trustees. One hundred and thirty-nine species of birds have been documented at Millborn Farm. The Trustees believe that as many as 50 more species frequent the property.
“We are very excited to be turning over stewardship of Millborn Farm to the capable and creative team at The Trustees, whose mission will allow the public to enjoy the property as much as we have, and to protect the resident turkey, deer and coyote who call it home,” said Isabel Dora Constable, a representative of the family that has owned the property since 1920. The Constables are descendants of Charles Eliot, who founded The Trustees in 1891.
“We hope it can become a launching pad for a blue trail along the Charles River to paddle to other Trustees properties,” said Ms. Constable.
Millborn Farm connects via the Charles River to nine other Trustees reservations: Cedariver in Millis and Shattuck Reservation in Medfield, Bridge Island Meadows to the east across South End Pond, Rocky Narrows in Sherborn, Medfield Meadow Lots in Medfield, Peters Reservation in Dover, and Charles River Peninsula in Needham.
Hiking trails from Medfield's Shattuck Reservation connect to Noon Hill Reservation, also in Medfield. Those in Peters Reservation connect to Chase Woodlands in Dover. The connectivity would make a water trail possible between the nine different properties.
With a long history and significant presence in the Charles River Valley, The Trustees protects more than 2,600 acres across 17 properties in the region, including its first reservation, Rocky Narrows, acquired in 1897. The Trustees notes that a strong demand exists for outdoor recreation opportunities in the area; some of The Trustees' most-visited properties are in the Charles River Valley.
This project has received support from the Sherborn Rural Lands Foundation, Upper Charles Conservation Land Trust, Sherborn Forest and Trail Association, and the Norfolk Hunt Club. The Trustees say it will continue working with and engaging existing and new community partners as it enters this next phase of planning.
