BANCROFT MEMORIAL.
The 23-acre Bancroft Memorial, bequeathed by Mildred Ryan Bancroft in 1992,
is one of the Land Trust’s largest properties. Mrs. Bancroft, a long-time active
member of the Farmington community, took great pleasure in the beauty of
the land surrounding her house on Prattling Pond Road. In memory of Mrs.
Bancroft, friends and neighbors contributed to a permanent endowment fund,
the interest from which is used for maintenance of the property.
|
|
Situated on the eastern side of Talcott Mountain, this parcel includes a
wooded hillside which slopes gently down to a shrub swamp and meadow.
The primarily deciduous semi-mature woodland, with some stands of pine
and hemlock, is noted for its high level of plant diversity.
|
The shrub swamp, an ecosystem that is increasingly hard to find in this
region, provides a wildlife habitat value in the form of food production and
nesting cover for songbirds, as well as over- wintering cover for amphibians
and turtles. This swamp is a semi-permanently flooded wetland, with a
pronounced hummock and hollow topography, in which the hummocks
support shrubs and sedges, and the hollows are almost always full of
standing water.
|
In the small meadow adjacent to Prattling Pond Road stands a dramatic
black oak (14th largest in the State). Underneath the tree is a memorial bench
dedicated to Richard Noyes, executive director of the Farmington Land Trust
for 14 years, who was a tireless and powerful advocate for land preservation
in our town.
|
In 2002, the Land Trust partnered with Connecticut Forest and Park
Association to establish a short section of the Metacomet Trail onto the
Bancroft Parcel. Visitors are welcome to walk the trail, starting from the
meadow to the east of Prattling Pond Road, heading towards the big oak
and on up the hillside.
|
|
|
|
