The Wellesley Conservation Land Trust (WCLT) presented a panel event at the Wellesley Free Library last week, “Storyscapes of Guernsey Sanctuary: Exploring the Stories that Landscapes Tell.” Over two years in the making, “Storyscapes” was attended by a crowd of 75, on an evening with many competing events happening in town.

The WCLT is a private, non-profit, land trust and conservation education organization that maintains, protects, and preserves 14 sanctuaries in Wellesley and Needham. The 25-acre Guernsey Sanctuary—half in Wellesley, and half in Needham—is the largest of WCLT’s properties and has been many things over time: an enormous glacier; a woodland; an estate, amusement park and “hygienic farm” built by an eccentric sewing industry magnate; a family home; and a conservation property, among others.

Wellesley Conservation Land Trust, Storyscapes — WCLT “Storyscapes” panelists, from left: Lisa Moore; Chris Crowley; Gloria Greis; Alisa Fine.

WCLT board member Alisa Fine spearheaded the “Storyscapes” project thanks to a grant from the Community Fund for Wellesley, which which allowed her to put together a program to tell stories about land from different perspectives such as economic, geologic, historical, ecological and cultural. She and a panel of three other experts told the stories of how how interconnectedness across time results in the sanctuary we see today. The event was co-sponsored by the Library, Wellesley Natural Resources Commission, and Wellesley Neighbors.

“The underlying concept is landscape literacy. It’s the idea that you can pick apart a physical landscape as you would a book, that there’s vocabulary associated with a physical landscape, and by understanding the vocabulary, you can read the landscape,” Alisa said.

She pointed out that landscape literacy is an idea that is well-known in academic circles, and one that translates easily beyond university settings and into the wider public sphere. “Landscapes tell stories, and if we know what to look for and how to read these stories, we’re able to more deeply understand what surrounds us.”

Wellesley Eco-camp — Gone Fishing. Eco Camp kids at the public fishing dock at Guernsey Sanctuary, Town of Wellesley courtesy photo

Panelists included Chris Crowley, WCLT treasurer and geology walk leader, who gave the geological perspective of the area; Gloria Greis, Needham History Center and Museum executive director, who covered the historical perspective and the eccentric Mr. Baker; and Lisa Moore, education and outreach coordinator for the Wellesley Natural Resources Commission, who discussed the ecology of Guernsey Sanctuary.