Helping Donors Leave Their Legacy

When New England-based sculptor Henry Davisson bought a 12-acre patch of forest off of Mountain Road in Cape Neddick in 1972, he did not mind that the land was too rocky to build on. In fact, he bought the land for the rock itself — not to quarry, but to sculpt.

Davisson did not immediately get to work. He let the stone rest for a few decades, returning in the early 2000s to finally start chipping away at his artistic vision. The resulting granite sculpture, which he completed in 2004 at the age of 63, is a beautifully rendered female figure sitting cross-legged within an egg-shaped cutout that measures several feet tall. Named “Oestre/Easter” after the Anglo-Saxon goddess of springtime, she sits in dappled light surrounded by leaf litter and mossy rocks and stumps, occasionally catching the eyes and imaginations of hunters and others who have stumbled across her over the years.

When Davisson passed away peacefully at the age of 80 in 2021, his daughters Lora and Beth sought to honor their father’s legacy by preserving his artwork and the surrounding patch of woods that meant so much to him. They reached out to York Land Trust and generously donated the land and covered the associated costs to conserve this forested landscape and the stories and relics it holds.

Thanks to Lora and Beth’s generosity and foresight, we were able to acquire the property this winter, permanently protecting not only their father’s artistic legacy but also an important piece of wildlife habitat that sits within a 963-acre block of undeveloped land within the Cape Neddick River watershed. The surrounding land holds historic remnants in a region known as Toddville, which includes a family cemetery, cellar holes and stonewalls.

‘We hope that this very thoughtful land donation will lead to additional opportunities for conservation in this ecologically and historically significant area of the town,” says Amelia Nadilo, York Land Trust’s Executive Director.

If you or a loved one has a piece of land that you would be interested in donating to York Land Trust either now or in the future, please contact Amelia Nadilo at anadilo@yorklandtrust.org.