Destination Topsfield: Mass Audubon’s Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

On this episode of our Destination series, Gordon Harris is joined by Lauren Fitzgerald, a native of Topsfield who is the vice president of the board at the Ipswich River Watershed Association. Today we are visiting Massachusetts Audubon’s Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary at 87 Perkins Row in Topsfield, where miles of trails weave through an amazing mix of forests, meadows, and wetlands, with beautiful views of the Ipswich River from an observatory and two glacial eskers. Make sure to bring some sunflower seeds; the nuthatches and chickadees will eat out of your hands! We visit an amazing rockery just before heading back to the cars.

History of the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

The land was acquired with a donation from Thomas Emerson Proctor (1873-1949), who was the beneficiary of his father’s amassed fortune and retired to Topsfield where he lived until he died in 1949. Proctor first lived in the historic home of Captain Dudley Bradstreet (1765-1833), which is now the Audubon Visitor Center. At the turn of the 20th century, Proctor owned nearly half of the land in Topsfield, and the remains of his mansion are nearby on Proctor Drive. The Turner Hill Mansion on Topsfield Rd. in Ipswich was the home of his sister Ann Rice, and his brother’s home, the Proctor Estate in Ipswich, is now the home of New England Biolabs. Both provide public access under the Ipswich Great Estates Bylaw.

Map of the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary — Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary trail map

In 1951, the Massachusetts Audubon Society purchased a 2,000-acre tract for $50,000 from the Thomas Emerson Proctor estate to create the Proctor Wildlife Sanctuary and Annie H. Brown Reservation, which is now the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. This recognition of Annie Brown honored a large monetary gift she gave to the Society in 1930.

Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary Welcome Center — Mass Audubon’s Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary visitor center is located in the Bradstreet farmhouse, which sits high on a drumlin at the end of a long driveway off of Perkins Row in Topsfield MA.

Like Bradley Palmer (whose extensive holdings in Ipswich were given to the state to become Bradley Palmer State Park and Willowdale State Forest), Proctor joined the Essex Agricultural Society and won first prizes for his Jersey cows, plowing teams, potatoes, and other crops at the Topsfield Fair. In 1898, he purchased the Dudley Bradstreet farm on Perkins Row, followed by purchases of surrounding lands totaling about 4000 acres. He set a goal to plant a specimen of every hardy North American tree on his estate and is said to have brought in thousands of other species of plants. The property features a Rockery designed by Japanese landscape architect Shintare Anamete in 1905.

Proctor created a network of carriage trails on the estate that he made available to the public. In his will, he gifted almost 2000 acres of his estate to Massachusetts Audubon. Originally known as the Proctor Wildlife Sanctuary and Annie H. Brown Reservation, the name was later changed to the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary.