Scenic Beauty to Revel In

10-08-15 (24)Lyme residents know it as “The Revels Field,” a north-south running field that stretches down a high hillside where the singers and dancers of the Country Revels once performed their annual celebration of folk song, storytelling and agrarian ways. On summer evenings in the 1980’s people came from across the Upper Valley to sit outdoors as music mixed with the sounds of nature.

10-08-15 (30)Others know the field as a great place to see a first glimpse of mountains to the east and north when gathering for a hike up the Lyme Pinnacle from Highbridge and Hardscrabble Roads. And others admire the apple trees and stones as relics of our region’s once thriving hill farms.

10-08-15 (14)

The parcel contributes to the local conservation efforts in this part of Lyme, filling a gap in otherwise conserved land along Highbridge Road – a Scenic Town Road.

All will be thrilled to know that Manning Rountree and Kendall Hoyt have purchased and conserved this special place. The 14 acres they bought was the site of the farmstead of the Dimick/Pike Farm – once the largest farm in Lyme – settled in 1800 and farmed until the 1960s.  After those 160 years, the buildings were taken down and all that remains today is an impressive barn foundation among some old apple trees at the south end of the property.   100% of the conserved land contains prime or locally significant agricultural soils.  The easement provides for a 1.7 acre Homestead Area in the southern end of the property where the historic buildings once stood.