Warwick Conservancy receives scenic woodlands known as “Wyndhurst”

Warwick — The Lewis-Sanford families continue to keep Warwick open and beautiful. Through the generosity of Mary Hope Lewis and Joan Lewis Jewett, the 11-acre property on Maple Avenue, which runs back to Woodside Drive, has been donated to the Warwick Conservancy. The land—4.6 acres in front and 6.6 acres that back up to Woodside Drive—will never be developed, according to Andrew McLaughlin, president of The Warwick Conservancy. The back acres are woods and will never be cut, McLaughlin added. “There won’t be five or six houses built here ever,” McLaughlin said. The property is called Wyndhurst, according to the Conservancy, a name derived from two old English words: “wynd,” which means lane, and “hurst,” meaning woods. The front of the property is recognizable to many who travel on Route 94. Located on the same side of the road as St. Anthony Community Hospital, those acres consist of the Maple Avenue lawn and arboretum. The property at the back of the house is a woodland, complete with a diverse forest of native trees, shrubs, and plants which provide habitat for many birds and small animals. The main house on the property can be seen from Maple Avenue and will remain the property of the family, as will another small house that sits behind the main house. McLaughlin said the family donated the land and also will pay the Conservancy to enforce the easement. “They not only gave the land in the interest of the community, but through their generosity, they will also pay the Conservancy to oversee the easement.” This is not new ground for these families. The Lewis family donated the land surrounding the Old School Baptist Meeting House. The Madison H. Lewis Woodlands was donated to the Village of Warwick by the family and is now a village park. Two years ago, they sold the development rights to the Sly farm to the Town of Warwick as part of the town’s Purchase of Development Rights program. The Warwick Conservancy is a land trust focused exclusively on the Town of Warwick. The organization raised funds to purchase the Hallowed Ground property at the corner of Forester Avenue and Route 17A, and helped preserve the Railroad Green. The Conservancy also was a co-sponsor of the Warwick Energy Fair last November.