Groton Open Space Association

Sheep Farm Briefing/Donations

Thanks to you, eight foundations and many others, we raised the funds and purchased the Sheep Farm on December 14, 2010!  GOSA was awarded a $534,300 CT DEP Open Space Grant and an $82,200 CT DEP Long Island Sound Grant. We hosted the special award ceremony, led by former Governor Jodi Rell. 

We have since demolished eight buildings and are working on a major U.S. Government grant to restore the impacted habitat.  We still need approximately $40,000 to complete an endowment fund.  

• Tours of the Sheep Farm on 245/255 Hazelnut Hill Road are held frequently.  To sign up for a tour or to volunteer to help, email: gosamail@gmail.com

 

Here is a slideshow of scenes on the property followed by a packet of maps.   Below the maps is detailed description of the tract in words and pictures.  

NEW ACQUISITION

Photos primarily by John Sutherland
Click here:
Maps of Sheep Farm’s Historic and Scenic Features, Trails, Wetlands, Swamps and Vernal Pools

 Maps: Whitney R. Adams Jr.

 

THE SHEEP FARM

The Sheep Farm is an 18th century farm spread over 63 acres of varied terrain and Avalonian ledge. Fort Hill Brook flows through the farm and eventually into Mumford Cove. This eel grass cove on Long Island Sound is pristine habitat for fish and shellfish and is a regional recreational and environmental treasure. The Sheep Farm connects to more than 50 acres of proposed open space and is close to more thn 1,700 acres of open space.

Waterfall – Over Spectacular 10 foot Rock Ledge

Wetlands – Key Amphibian Habitat

Vernal Pools – 3 Major; 2 Minor

• Exceptional Rock-Lined Vernal Pools

Green Belt to Mumford Cove

Meadows, Mountain Laurel Forest                                             

Animals on the Sheep Farm:

Wetland Species:  Four toed, Spotted and Redback Salamanders, Wood Frogs, Green Frogs, rare Spire Shelled aquatic Snails, aquatic Gordian Worm, Mayflies, Stoneflies, Caddisflies, Dragonflies (larval evidence of excellent water quality)

Birds:  Great Horned and Barred Owls, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Wood Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern Oriole, Big Brown Bat, Wild Turkey

Other Animals:  Flying Squirrels, Red Fox, Bobcats, Fisher Cats, Coyotes, Deer

Insects:  White Great Northern Bumblebee, Spring Azure, Fritillary, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and many more Butterflies

Highly Functioning, Productive Wetlands

• Estuary protection – to Mumford Cove habitat
• Flood control and water filtration qualities

History

The rich history of the Sheep Farm was fully researched by GOSA.  Originally owned by the Jabez Smith family, the farm has been used for agricultural and industrial operations for over 300 years, and for raising sheep, up to 10 years ago. 

Original stone walls, now lichen-covered, rectangular stone foundations, probably for animal enclosures, an old road, the grist and other mill dams on site, are very well preserved.

The 125-foot long, 15-foot wide grist mill dam straddles Fort Hill Brook, a perennial stream which runs through the property.  There is evidence upstream on Fort Hill Brook of another mill, perhaps a fulling mill used to pound cloth to soften it, or perhaps a sawmill, from the early 18^th century. 

 The foundation of an early center-chimney gambrel 1700’s house, known as the Samuel Edgecomb House, is located on the property.  Samuel Jr. “was ploughing rye at the time of the alarm (to defend Groton from the British) and left for the fort at once, not stopping to loose his oxen.”  Samuel was a large man who fought the British by effectively throwing 18 pound shot, one with each hand, over the walls of Fort Griswold.

Still surviving are boundary markers mentioned in the deeds, such as heaps of stones, stone walls tapering off on to rising ledges, two parallel stone walls, double stone walls, the stone barn foundation and the remains of the grist mill and other mills.  The Sheep Farm property is in fact only slightly larger now than it was in Colonial times.

The Waterfall Over Avalonian Ledge

Lichen covered walls run throughout the Sheep Farm, enclosing several large meadows, intact from Colonial times.  Other stone walls end on rock ledges.  There are six Major Rock Ledges with fine views over the Sheep Farm, woods and brook.  Glacial erratics, large boulders left after the last ice age, are strewn throughout the Sheep Farm and adjacent fifty acres of proposed open space.  

An extensive Mountain Laurel forest can be found to the north of the Sheep Farm, intersected by Fort Hill Brook.  Then a large Red Maple swamp is followed by Azalea gardens to the south.  After a rain, the roaring waterfall can be heard throughout the land.     

Native Plants on the Sheep Farm

Trees:  Tulip, abundant Flowering Dogwoods, Butternut, remnant American Chestnut, American Sycamore, Tupelo, Sassafras, White Pine, Witch Hazel, Sweet, Gray and Yellow Birch Trees, American Beech, Pin Oak, Red Oak, Red Maple

Shrubs:  Swamp Sweetbells, Summersweet, Early and Swamp Azaleas (fragrant – see picture below), Mountain Laurel, Spicebush, Buttonbush, Winged Sumac, Arrowwood, Maple-leaved Viburnum, Maleberry, Low and Highbush Blueberry

Vines:  Native American Wisteria, Riverbank and Fox Grape

Herbs:  Golden Saxifrage, Golden Ragwort, Cardinal Flower, Marsh Marigold, Starflower, Partridgeberry, Red and White Indian Pipes, Small Ginseng, Northern White and Marsh Blue Violets, Dolls Eyes, Canada and Pennsylvania Lilies, Water Pennywort, Water Dock, Early Meadow Rue, and Meadow Grasses – Little Bluestem

Ferns:  Royal, Cinnamon, Interrupted, Ebony Spleenwort, Sensitive, Broad Beech, Crested Wood, Leathery Grape, Polypody and New York

Mosses, Lichens, Mushrooms – an amazing variety given the extensive wetlands

$__________________________Contribution for Sheep Farm

Name(s)____________________________­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­___{­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­}_________

Address_______________________________________

Municipality__________________State____Zip_______

Email_________________________________________

Groton Open Space Association is a non-profit corporation under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  Contributions are income-tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Please copy and print  this form (or simply give the information it asks for) and send it to:

• GOSA, P.O. Box 9187, Groton, CT 06340

“As a wetland scientist, I have evaluated several hundred wetlands over the past twenty years; the wetland system at the base of the Sheep Farm property along Fort Hill Brook is one of the highest-functioning that I have ever assessed.  This property is an integral part of an important open space and wildlife corridor, extending all the way to Mumford Cove, the only remaining coastal embayment still clean enough for an eel grass population.”       

  – Sigrun Gadwa, Scientist and Ecologist

       (Text: Susan Sutherland. Photos: John Sutherland and Sigrun Gadwa)

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