Old Field Pines on the Norfolk Downs

By Hans M. Carlson

Many people have a perception of the precolonial New England forest as dominated by white pine. This is in part due to many early chroniclers using the name “pine” as a catchall for conifers—hemlock, fir, spruce. It also has to do with the legendary “King Pines,” used by the Royal Navy for masts, which sparked controversy in the colonies. Pine was prized from the beginning as a strong and easily worked wood, and the navy’s demands were another part of colonial frustration. The tree became symbolic then, but it never dominated our forests before European arrival.

Pine became much more a part of the forest here with the abandonment of agricultural land, beginning in the mid-19th century. As western land became available, and transportation improved, people abandoned the rocks and hard winters of the New England uplands for the deep, rich soils of the Midwest. Old fields began to regrow quickly, and white pine did very well in the conditions left in the wake of farming and pasturage. White pine has a lightweight, wind-dispersed seed that travels far and invades abandoned fields better than hardwoods. Grazing animals also prefer hardwood seedlings to conifers, thereby selecting to the benefit of the less tasty.

You have likely seen old field pines, as they tend to make up large blocks of even-aged trees, and they have a distinctive look because of insect infestation. Growing in open, sunny conditions leaves pines vulnerable to the white pine weevil, which loves the warmth of the very top of the sapling. The weevil kills the terminal leader—where you would place the star on a Christmas tree—and this forces side branches to become dominant. These too then become vulnerable, and this process continues over years, leaving open-grown trees with lots of branches on multiple trunks. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these kinds of stands dominated and became the foundation of the New England box industry for decades.

One of the most interesting areas of old field pine in town is the area that was the original nine-hole golf course, known as the Norfolk Downs, between what is now the Curling Club and Tobey Pond. Many know that the building locally known as “the Shelter” was the clubhouse for the course, but it’s hard today to imagine the links that covered about 40 acres. In a previous article, I wrote about the kettle and kame topography left by Glacial Lake Norfolk, and this is where club members used to play golf. It must have made for challenging play.

The land began to regrow in the 1940s, and pines did well in the open conditions and on the glacial deposits that make up the area. Before long there was a young forest, and there is little trace today of the fairways, tees and greens that were used for decades. The one telltale sign is that, despite the dramatic topography in the area, the ground is smooth, just as it would be in abandoned pasturage or tillage.

As you make your way to Tobey Beach this summer, look into the forest and try to imagine how it appeared 100 ago. Before there was an official town beach, swimmers checked in with the head caddy and then walked to the pond. Where the gate is now, there was likely a good view out over the pond and hills behind. Today it is yet another forest curiosity left in the wake of past land use.

Illustration: The map shows the location of the original nine-hole Norfolk Downs golf course, on land now mostly covered with old field pines.

Map courtesy of Hans Carlson.