On the way to the Rockery Grotto, the boardwalk planks are level again. Mass Audubon finished a two-part project last fall to repair and level the weathered boards leading to the Grotto and the Rockery Loop Trail. The goal was to make that stretch safe for everyone to walk. The stones the boardwalk leads to were placed in 1905. Along that loop you can see American Beech, Black Cherry and Eastern Hemlock, Painted Turtles in the water, and a Great Blue Heron moving through the cattails. All of it is seen from a walkway people built and keep up.
That is the thread through the last two events of Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary's 75th anniversary. Mass Audubon bought the first parcels in Topsfield 75 years ago. The series ends with a talk on Thursday, November 5, and a walk on Saturday, November 7. Both are about how the sanctuary has been managed, which is easy to overlook because the work is meant to blend in.
The Rockery and the arboretum came before Mass Audubon
The land had owners with strong ideas long before it became a sanctuary. Mass Audubon's own history of the organization says it bought almost 2,000 acres in Topsfield from Thomas Emerson Proctor in 1951. The property was first called the Proctor Wildlife Sanctuary and the Annie H. Brown Reservation before it took the Ipswich River name. The Brown name traces back further. The Massachusetts Historical Society records a $100,000 bequest to Mass Audubon from Annie H. Brown's estate in 1930. Historic Ipswich says the reservation's name honored her gift and reports that the 1951 purchase from the Proctor estate cost $50,000.
Proctor left behind the two features most people would name first. Mass Audubon credits him with the Rockery's boulder arches, which took 100 men upwards of nine years to build. He also began an arboretum with more than 3,000 exotic species of trees and shrubs. Today the sanctuary page describes the Rockery as a grotto of narrow passages and caves, open to anyone who wants to climb.
Mass Audubon's anniversary announcement describes Proctor as a "gentleman farmer" who shaped much of what visitors love about the sanctuary today, including the Rockery and the arboretum. The same history reaches back to the Bradstreet and Averill families and the farming of the 1800s. Mass Audubon built the next layer on top of a place that was already designed.
Mass Audubon's own additions are in the water
The most visible work since 1951 has to do with water. A 1991 Bird Observer birding guide says Bunker Meadows was a grass meadow that flooded seasonally until 1965. That year an impoundment was built there with federal funds to hold water levels steady all year for nesting waterfowl. The same guide reported beavers damming Mile Brook near Waterfowl Pond and warned that flooding could affect the Waterfowl Pond and Rockery trails. That guide describes conditions 35 years ago. It is history, not a report on today's water levels, but it shows how long people and beavers have both been shaping this water.
The beaver deceivers come out of that same history. A Wicked Local photo gallery from November 2022 showed one at the sanctuary and explained its purpose, which is to keep beavers from plugging a culvert. The device works around the beavers rather than removing them.
The beavers are easy to find. Mass Audubon's staff picks for water views point to the Stone Bridge Trail as the place to look over Waterfowl Pond and its cattail marsh. Visitors there may see an active beaver lodge, turtles, water lilies and egrets. The same piece places Rockery Pond on the Rockery Trail, where boardwalks and bridges circle the water.
The work still going on is mostly invisible
The 2025 projects show the same pattern in the present. Mass Audubon's year-end recap from December 2025 lists the work that changed what visitors walk through:
- Rockery boardwalk. Weathered planks to the Rockery Grotto and Rockery Loop Trail were repaired and leveled.
- Arbor Field. Invasive Glossy Buckthorn was cleared from a quarter acre along the southern edge, because it crowds out native plants for light, nutrients and space.
- Innermost Pavilion. A new cedar-framed shelter with picnic tables now stands near the parking lot, restrooms, trailheads and the Nature Play area.
- Stewardship Saturdays. On the last Saturday of each month, volunteers remove invasive species, clear trails, rake and mulch.
- Programs. Owl Prowls came back for adults, and Birding by Canoe was added.
If the south edge of Arbor Field looks more open than you remember, that is why. Stewardship Saturdays also make this work something residents can do themselves. They are posted through Mass Audubon's volunteer page.
Two events left in a six-event year
The anniversary began with history and Indigenous storytelling. By the time this post appears, four of the six talks and walks have taken place, along with the Perkins Picnic, a community event in October with live music and a Memory Tree where guests shared their memories of the sanctuary. The last two are about management.
| Date | Event | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Sept. 17 | Talk: Colonial Settlement through 1951 | Early 1600s to the Proctor era |
| Sat., Sept. 19 | Walk: A Twilight Walk Guided by Poetry | Persona poems read along the trail |
| Sat., Oct. 3 | The Perkins Picnic | Community celebration and Memory Tree |
| Sun., Oct. 11 | Talk: Connect with Abenaki Storytelling Traditions | Storyteller Anne Jennison |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Talk: The Land and Water Speak | Larry Spotted Crow Mann on North Shore Indigenous history |
| Thu., Nov. 5 | Talk: The Growing Legacy of Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary | 75 years of management, from the archives |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Walk: A Stroll through the Sanctuary's Story | Beaver deceivers, waterfowl ponds, grasslands with invasive plants |
The Topsfield Historical Society has posted a video of historian Jeanne Pickering's anniversary talk on European land use and ownership before the 1951 purchase. It covers the early history for anyone who missed the September events.
Thursday, November 5: the talk
Sanctuary Director Carole McCauley leads The Growing Legacy of Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Barn. She will use archival images, video, plans, reports and stories to show how the sanctuary and the watershed have changed. Topics include major ecological management projects, building and grounds improvements, the growth of public programs and summer camp, and the volunteers behind it. The talk also looks ahead at what comes next. It is for adults, free for members and nonmembers, and registration is required.
Saturday, November 7: the walk
Two days later, McCauley leads A Stroll through the Sanctuary's Story from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The program description promises stops at beaver deceivers, waterfowl ponds and grasslands challenged by invasive plants, with each one marking a chapter in the sanctuary's 75-year history of care. The group meets in the Barn for a hike of about 3 miles over uneven ground. Wear sturdy shoes and bring water, sun protection and insect protection. The walk is for adults, free for members and nonmembers, and registration is required. Questions go to the sanctuary at 978-887-9264 or [email protected].
The New England Biolabs Foundation and the Essex National Heritage Commission supported the anniversary programs.
The rest of the season on the same trails
Families have a parallel option on November 7. Beavers at Dusk: Wetland Wonders on the Rockery Trail runs from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. for children ages 5 to 12, the trail whose boardwalk planks were repaired last fall. Mass Audubon's Ipswich River program calendar runs into the winter:
- Friday, November 6. Birding for Beginners, with sessions at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
- Saturday, November 21. Wicked Big Trees: A Wildlife and History Walk, plus an Almost Full Moon Hike.
- December 4, 11 and 12. Owl Prowls for families and pre-K children. The adult Owl Prowl returned in 2025.
- Saturday, December 5. The Wonder & the Wow: A Winter Bird Walk.
- December 18 and 19. A Winter Solstice Family Lantern Celebration, followed by Celebrate the Winter Solstice.
For drop-in visits, the sanctuary page currently lists 1,978 acres and 12 miles of trails, open dawn to dusk. The visitor center is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and on Monday holidays. Admission is listed at $7 for adults and $4 for seniors and children ages 2 to 12. The Observation Tower is closed until further notice.
Nikki Palladino pays attention to the parts of Topsfield that don't change hands, along with the ones that do. If the sanctuary is part of your week and you are weighing your next move, Nikki Palladino is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
