Newbury Field
Year Acquired: 1990
Size: 34 acres
Miles of Trails: 1 mile
Features: Open meadow, large rock outcropping, riparian habitat.
Overview
Situated off Lowell Road in the Spencer Brook valley, Newbury Field offers some of the most beautiful riparian and meadow landscapes in Concord. The property was a gift by Anne Newbury in 1990. Donations by Land Trust members helped cover the cost of the access trail.
Trails: Easy walk, wet areas near Spencer Brook crossing, gentle rolling rise in field.
Entrances/Parking: Park on the east side of Lowell Road, between houses #1127 and #1155. Access the trailhead by crossing Lowell Road and entering through the driveway of house #1127. There are also two parking spaces at the end of the driveway in front of the Newbury Field trail sign. If these are full, please park on Lowell Road.
Map Legend
Icons on the map can be clicked to get directions on Google Maps (works best for Parking Icons). Many Land Trust properties have trails that cross onto other land. Please stay on trails and abide by posted signs.
Explore the Land
The path to Newbury Field begins with a short pass through red maple wetlands before crossing through a small field to a causeway that eventually leads to the larger field. The trail across the causeway offers views of the Spencer Brook floodplain. In the summer, the causeway looks like a green tunnel, outlined by silky dogwood and gray alders, with diverse growth canopying above. The marsh and Spencer Brook become more visible in the winter months, when this lush tunnel dies back. The views up and downstream are lovely, whether they be of the meadow grasses catching the breeze, or the sun setting over these marshes. Near the end of the causeway just before the field, there is a bridge over the Spencer Brook. The caging here prevents the beavers from damming under the bridge.
The field itself provides a good example of an old field habitat, with waves of little bluestem – a native warm season grass – and islands of junipers and high bush and low bush blueberries. There is a perimeter path in the field, and also a path through the middle of the field. Along the ridge of the field, there is a large rock outcropping known as Picnic Rock. From here, one can enjoy an expansive view of the Spencer Brook valley. Back in the center of the field, where brush grows among scattered rocks, there may have been foundations of an old barn.
History of Preservation
In 1990, Anne Chamberlin Newbury donated this 34-acre property. Anne grew up in Concord in the early 1900’s, the daughter of a local “country” doctor. The family home was in Concord Center, but Dr. Chamberlin acquired a large farm two miles out of town, located on both sides of Lowell Road, which the family enjoyed visiting. Eventually, Anne would live on this land with her husband Bert Newbury (an early trustee of the Land Trust) and raise her family here. When she moved away from Concord at the age of 79, Anne donated this beautiful property to the Land Trust.
