Trails and History of Tiverton's Basket Swamp Land Showcased

The Tiverton Land Trust, Tiverton Open Space and Land Preservation Commission and Sandywoods Agricultural Committee held an open house on Saturday afternoon, May 21, intending to raise awareness of the importance of protecting land and natural ecosystems. The event showcased the Basket Swamp, a piece of more than 90 acres of land owned by the Tiverton Land Trust, which is planned to be turned into a nature preserve featuring several trails open to the public.

Guided tours were available of the trails, which begin less than a mile down Cornell Road. A formal opening of the trails is tentatively scheduled for the fall, which are still in the process of being cleared. In addition to these tours, the open house featured information and maps concerning the historical and natural significance of both Basket Swamp and the black ash trees for which it is named. Held in Sandywoods Farm, the event included a demonstration on the process of basket weaving, something for which the black ash tree was primarily used by Native Americans.

Land trust officials said the black ash tree is hard to find now because swampland is often cleared out and turned into landfills, due to a common belief that swamps are useless since they are not condusive to economic development. However, this couldn’t be further from truth, officials declared. In addition to being important in protecting and maintaining biodiversity, swamps prove to be important in several ways. They preserve quality groundwater, which is particularly important considering the number of private wells in the southern part of Tiverton. Swamp land serves to filter out pollutants, which is also important as officials noted that Basket Swamp flows directly into two significant supplies of public drinking water: Nonquit Pond and the Westport River.

Swamps also are helpful in the realm of flood control.

“Swamps are like nature’s sponge," said Garry Plunkett of the Tiverton Open Space and Land Preservation Commission. He said the land has a certain permeability that enables it to soak up water, replenishing the supply of groundwater in the process. He said this was evidenced during the flooding that afflicted the area in the spring of 2010.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to say the swamps saved south Tiverton, but they certainly helped to minimize the damage," Plunkett added." We would’ve been far worse off without these swamps.” 

Wayne Browning, land trust member, described the historical significance of Basket Swamp.

“In looking at old maps of Tiverton, you can see that this area is commonly labeled as ‘Basket Swamp,'" he said. "This is because the area at the time had many black ash trees, which were highly valued by the Native Americans. Unlike most trees, the black ash tree separates by what you and I would call its annual rings, making it particularly useful in basket weaving.” 

The open house featured a map dating back to the 1850s with the exact area denoted as “Basket Swamp.”

Resident Sharon Culberson educated visitors about this process, showing how the rings of the black ash would separate when struck with a hammer. Next, they can be pulled apart, displaying the pliability that makes the tree so condusive to weaving. In addition to displaying an array of different baskets, all made from the black ash, she also explained how deeply this process cuts into our heritage.

“As soon as man left his cave and began gathering, he quickly developed a need for something to carry the things he found," Culberson said. "The basket is one of our earliest tools, earlier than pottery.”