Fork Factory Brook is a 135-acre (55 ha) historic site, open space reserve, and agricultural reserve located in Medfield, Massachusetts. The reserve, managed by the land conservation non-profit organization

The Trustees of Reservations The Trustees of Reservations is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest land conservation nonprofit orga ...

, is notable for its wetlands, ledges, 300-year-old hayfields, and ruins of a 19th-century pitchfork mill for which the property is named. Fork Factory Brook offers of trails and former woods roads available for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and cross country skiing. The property is part of a larger area of protected open space including the abutting

Rocky Woods Rocky Woods is a open space preserve located in Medfield, Massachusetts. The preserve, managed by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reservations, is notable for its rugged terrain. Rocky Woods offers of trails and fo ...

preserve, also managed by The Trustees of Reservations.

Terrain and History

Hayfields on the property formerly belonged to Long Acre Farm, whose agricultural history spanned 300 years. The farm grew crops and maintained livestock;produced rope from

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

, and wool; made butter and

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

; and produced candles and boots with animal byproducts. Fields on the property are currently maintained to produce hay. A succession of mills were operated on the property, beginning in 1771 when Joshua Morse built a grist mill along Mill Brook. Henry Partridge bought two mills on Mill Brook in the early 19th century and modified them to produce high quality iron products. Partridge capitalized on local farming interests by producing metal farm implements, most notably the pitchfork for which the property is named. The mills ran for twenty years after which they saw a brief revival as a paper cutting enterprise near the end of the American Civil War. In 1927 the mills, defunct at the time, were torn down when the town widened its main street; only the stone raceway and earthen dam remain; they are located at the south end of the Fork Factory Brook reservation. The original acreage was a gift of Pliny Jewell, Jr. and Mrs. Barrett Williams in 1966 in memory of their parents. Additional lands were purchased and donated in 1978 and 1985.

Recreation

A network of trails span the property and connect with the abutting Rocky Woods reservation. Trails pass along the borders of hayfields and the wetlands of Mill Brook, over rocky knolls, and to the pitchfork mill ruins. Fork Factory Brook shares a trailhead parking lot with Rocky Woods, located on Hartford Street in Medfield. Fork Factory Book is within two miles of both the

Bay Circuit Trail The Bay Circuit Trail and Greenway or Bay Circuit is a Massachusetts rail trail and greenway connecting the outlying suburbs of Boston from Plum Island in Newburyport to Kingston Bay in Duxbury, a distance of . Landmarks include Henry David T ...

system and the Charles River Link Trail.

References

External links

Map of Rocky Woods and Fork Factory BrookRocky Woods Reservation
is adjacent
Bay Circuit Trail
The Trustees of Reservations Protected areas of Norfolk County, Massachusetts Bay Circuit Trail Open space reserves of Massachusetts Protected areas established in 1966 1966 establishments in Massachusetts {{NorfolkCountyMA-geo-stub