CAREY PASTURE, BARNEY PASTURE AND LIDGERWOOD PARCEL
These properties total 8.9 acres, and include a sloping wet meadow
with huge pasture trees and excellent wildlife habitat. They front
Mountain Spring Road on the east, across from the Barney House and
Boulder Brook Lot. They were donated by Ann Carey [1996]; Hattie
Lidgerwood and Katherine Garfield [1983]; and by the William
Lidgerwood, Richard Noyes and William Haviland families [1980]. The
parcels recall the centuries-long agricultural history of the neighborhood
and the estates of its well-to-do landowners.
The big barns and sheds are gone now, and the only structures
recalling this history are a garage building and a large ancient root
cellar dug into the hillside. On the Carey lot is the spring for which
Mountain Spring Road is named. Unfortunately, encroachment from
neighboring development has damaged the wetland, threatened the
spring with siltation, and cut away portions of the protective tree canopy.
These common problems are also part of Farmington’s history –
though of a sad recent chapter. The Land Trust is working to mitigate
the ecosystem damage, and will maintain the historic character of the
meadow with twice-yearly mowing and control of invasive plant species.
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