BARRINGTON – Nockum Hill is mostly flat and rises no more than 21 feet at its highest point. But it’s steeped in history.
The Pokanoket lived, fished, farmed and hunted here for thousands of years on part of their ancestral lands, called Sowams, which stretched across the East Bay and included some of Seekonk, Swansea and Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
The land also was the site of the First Baptist Church of Massachusetts, one of the earliest churches in North America, which was founded by settlers in the 1600s.
Near the church, the first skirmish of the brutal King Philip's War (1675-1676) between the Colonial farmers and the Native Americans is believed to have taken place.
Besides all that history, Nockum Hill has meadows, coastal wetlands, salt marsh, woodlands and farmland, all part of the 82-acre Doug Rayner Wildlife Refuge. The sanctuary is named for the late naturalist and conservationist who protected endangered species and habitats on Nockum Hill and along the Palmer River, Barrington River and Hundred Acre Cove.
The town acquired the land in the 1960s and designated it a wildlife preserve in 1994. The Barrington Land Conservation Trust was granted a conservation easement in 2005, and currently the land is managed by the Doug Rayner Management Committee and the land trust.
Founding spot for the First Baptist Church of Massachusetts
I drove to the trailhead off George Street, crossing the border from Swansea into Barrington, and passed strawberry, rhubarb, lettuce and horse farms with names such as Pinegate, Four Town Farm, Cronin’s Crossing and Grays Farm. On a scorching June morning, I spotted water jets spraying the green fields and paused at a white-fenced paddock to watch young horseback riders circle the ring.
The trailhead, next to the private, historic Joseph Allen house, which was built in 1763, is marked with a tall stone slab and a greenish, weathered plaque that reads:
“The First Baptist Church of Massachusetts was founded near this spot
A.D. 1663
Rev. John Myles”
Myles (1621-1683) was an Englishman from Wales who emigrated with his congregation to North America in the early 1660s. He carried with him the Ilston Book, one of the earliest records of the Baptist Church in Wales and named for a meeting place near Swansea, a Welsh town.
The congregation settled in Swansea, Massachusetts, and Myles founded the First Baptist Church of Massachusetts. (Barrington later broke off from Swansea.) Other founders listed on the stone table at the trailhead are James Brown, Nicholas Tanner, Joseph Carpenter, Eldad Kingsley, Benjamin Alby and John Butterworth.
Was the meeting house a casualty of King Philip's War?
Some historians believe that their meeting house was attacked on June 20, 1675, at the start of King Philip’s War, and that the church and Myles’ house burned to the ground. Archeologists have surveyed the land, looking for evidence in the fields, farmland and woods that now cover the property.
I set out with 10 hikers on a guided walk led by Peter McCalmont, chairman of the Doug Rayner Wildlife Refuge Management Committee, and Charlie Brown, retired wildlife biologist for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and co-manager of the refuge.
We walked through a white gate to start our walk. Because the paths aren’t blazed, I took a cellphone picture of a colorful map posted on a fence.
The trail starts off on the paved Rayner Road along an overgrown wooden fence. Not far in, we paused to watch two deer prancing across fields about a hundred yards on the right. On the far side of a field of corn and a stand of bamboo stalks, a walker followed a gravel road that looped into the preserve. Ahead of us, two turkeys emerged from the underbrush and crossed the path.
As we walked, our guides noted the invasive species, such as Japanese knotweed and bittersweet, that flourish along the walkway, crowd out native plants and grasses and have to be constantly cut back.
What kind of wildlife might you see there?
After a short distance, we reached Little Meadow, which was once a paved lot with a corrugated building and served as a dumping ground for sludge and other debris. The asphalt was taken up and the field is now heavily vegetated, lined with bird boxes and marked as a “pollinator habitat.” Goldenrod grows there at various times of the year.
Our guides pointed out Eastern blue birds that perched on fence posts and tree swallows that darted across the sky. Birders also report spotting clapper rail, seaside sparrows, marsh wrens, gray catbirds and cedar waxwings along other paths.
Continuing onto the Point Trail, with the farm fields on the right and a thick, deciduous, oak-dominated forest on the left, we reached Big Meadow. The area was cleared of stumps and saplings and is now filled with a dense underbrush, native grasses, cedar, pine and oak trees and several dozen bird boxes poking up above the foliage. I spotted butterflies fluttering above the milkweed, St. John’s wort, yarrow, black-eyed Susans and wild lupin, which has been introduced there.
Several trails that lead around or away from Big Meadow were closed because of a sensitive wildlife area, including one path that led to the shoreline, where members of the church on Nockum Hill once held baptisms. We turned west, walked down a short bluff, and then turned north on a different path.
Through the trees, we could see the Runnins River, which meanders south before flowing into Hundred Acre Cove and the Barrington River before flowing into Narragansett Bay. I also noted that we passed a shrub-covered earthen berm on the right that partially hid a police pistol range that law enforcement officers use for target practice several times a year.
Hundred Acre Cove is nearby
The path led up a hillside to the main trail where we'd walked before. We turned east along the northern lip of Big Meadow and then went northeast onto the heavily shaded, grassy Woodland Trail, which once may have been a farm lane. A short side spur on the right leads to the long shoreline of Hundred Acre Cove, one of the largest salt marsh estuaries in Rhode Island. Anglers report the waters are filled with white perch, striped bass and herring.
Back on the Woodland Trail, we looped back through a thick forest to Rayner Road and returned to where we'd started.
In all, we walked about 1.5 miles over 90 minutes.
The preserve’s history, especially the origins of the church and its reported role in King Philip's War, caught my attention. But there are also plenty of birds, trees and flowers to see in the meadows, making them great places to pause during an easy, enjoyable summer walk.
If you go….
Access: Off Warren Avenue headed east, take George Street to the trailhead on the right.
Parking: Available in a small lot.
Restrictions: Dogs, joggers, bikes, horses and motor vehicles are prohibited.
Difficulty: Easy on flat paths.
GPS coordinates: 41.77230, -71.31161
John Kostrzewa’s book, “Walking Rhode Island: 40 Hikes for Nature and History Lovers with Pictures, GPS Coordinates and Trail Maps,” is available at local booksellers, retailers and at Amazon.com.
The Walking Rhode Island column runs every other week in the Providence Sunday Journal. Kostrzewa, a former assistant managing editor/business at The Journal, welcomes email at johnekostrzewa@gmail.com.
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