The Hermitage is an area owned by the the Trustees of New Castle Common within the city limits of New Castle, Delaware. It was the site of an historic mansion (the Hermitage) which burned in 2007.

The Trustees have now designated this area of forest and meadow "The Hermitage Natural Area" and have made it a wildlife safety zone set aside for hiking, photography and nature study. Hunting, fishing, trapping, motor vehicles and discharging of firearms are not permitted. It's a place where you can get some sun and fresh air, walk (or walk your dog), get away from screens and electrical outlets ... and experience calm, beauty and nature in an area within city limits where people live, work and go to school. In addition, as a "livable ecosystem", it provides clean water, fresh air, and wildlife support.

The early history of the Hermitage and it's mansion and it's owners is interesting and well documented-- from a Dutch grant in 1656 to the English grant in 1667 to the victorious conqueror of Ft. Casimir (0.5 mi. away), to U.S. Senator Nicholas Van Dyke, Jr. in 1803, then his beautiful daughter Dorcas then through her Dupont descendents up to 1949. The area was farmed back to the beginnings of what is now Delaware.

Recent use of the property is documented by aerial photos and oral history as it shifted from tenant farming to residential use. A surprising anecdote is the visit of the circus with its elephants in 1940 to the Megginson farm (who were tenants at the time.) The area was once all cultivated -- orchard, field and marsh.

The Trustee-owned meadow, marsh and woods adjacent to the site of the mansion is now called the Hermitage Natural Area for convenience. It is on part or all of three lots owned by the Trustees. There are trails from 0.3 to 1.6 miles long in this beautiful area. The original plan for the area after the mansion burned was that it was to be for birding. Plans for a birding platform were discussed in 2016. Unfortunately, repeated incidents of vandalism in 2018 and 2019 (removing signposts, repeatedly cutting up and removing the plank bridge on the red trail, obscene, racist and sexual graffiti in the outdoor classroom behind Carrie Downie suggested then that an expensive platform would be an unwise use of funds.

The area has been used by birders. For example, ornithologist Andrew Ednie observed 28 species of birds in 35 minutes on September 12, 2020 during the fall migration. His list on the web app eBird shows that he was near the brick ice house on the property. "The Hermitage Natural Area (TNCC)" has just been added as a "hotspot" . As of late spring 2021, 85 species have been observed.

The original agreement by the Trustees on November 1, 2016 for the Hermitage Natural Area was that the Trustees would create a "wildlife/nature area" and maintain it in the future. It was not stated how this would be done. After consulting with experts, I planned to cut trails through impenetrable brush, create a native grass and flower pollinator meadow and work at removing alien invasive plants, such as oriental bush honeysuckle from the woods. I hoped that the meadow, once established, could be maintained by annual mowing in March with weeding by volunteers. My goal in planting a native plant meadow surrounded by a forest with many native trees was that "native plants support native bugs which support native birds". This mantra was based on UD professor Doug Tallamy's first book Bringing Nature Home and recent book Nature's Best Hope. You can read or listen to these books free with Hoopla if you have a local library card. His recorded lectures are on YouTube.

These books emphasize that restoring native plants to our suburban ecosystems is crucial for the future of biodiversity in the U.S., and that "most insects can only eat plants with which they share an evolutionary history -- our native insects are not able to survive on alien plants... A land without insects is a land without most forms of life."

Mother Nature has performed an 'unmanaged reforestation' in this area that was treeless farmland for hundreds of years. The woods contain about a quarter of all the species of trees native to this part of Delaware. And, importantly, among the most common species of trees are the "Keystone species" such as oaks, cherries, maples and willows which are important in maintaining our environment.

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The current layout of the area was started in 2016 by Jim Meek, a Trustee of New Castle Common. He got advice then and later from experts: Bill Stewart, Lisa Smith, Andrew Ednie and Sheila Smith (Delaware Ornithological Society), Kate Hackett (Delaware Wild Lands), Jim Chaconas (DNREC), Jim McCulley (WatershedEco.com), Karen Travers and Travis Beck (Mt. Cuba), Russ Smith (NPS), Lenny Wilson (Delaware Center for Horticulture), Sue Barton and Anna Wik (UD), Tom Brightman, (Longwood Gardens), Madeline Banks (Winterthur), Faith Kuehn and Blake Moore (DE Dept. Ag.), Jim White and Joe Sebastiani (DE Nat. Soc.), Christopher Hoess (DTCC), and William McAvoy (DNREC).

Comments? Write james.l.meek[ @--symbol] gmail .com