Sawmill Brook

In 2023, Greenbelt, in partnership with the Town of West Newbury, successfully acquired and permanently conserved 32 acres adjacent to the Mill Pond Conservation Area. This land acquisition enhances the trail network connecting Mill Pond and Pipestave Hill, protects the water quality of Mill Pond, and safeguards vital wildlife habitat, wetlands, and scenic upland forests — all critical for climate change resilience.

The Town of West Newbury owns and manages the land as part of the Mill Pond & Pipestave Hill Conservation Area, while Greenbelt holds the conservation restriction required by the CPA.

This conservation effort also safeguards a newly renovated historic cemetery, completed by the West Newbury Historic Commission on Poor House Lane, directly across from the Sawmill Brook property.

The cemetery, where paupers were buried between approximately 1837 and the early 1900s, serves as a poignant reminder of the Almshouse Cemetery tradition. Like similar sites throughout Massachusetts, it stands as one of the most lasting physical remnants of the local system of institutionalized care for the poor, disabled, mentally ill, and sick during the 1800s.