Mr. and Mrs. Richard Brigham have provided a legacy for future generations of Americans by permanently protecting their historic property within the Brandywine Battlefield National Landmark. By selling the rights to develop the property, the couple's 55 acres will be preserved as open space through a conservation easement to be held jointly by the Brandywine Conservancy and Chester County.

The terms of the easement restrict the uses of the property to farming and battlefield interpretation. The easement also limits the number of buildings to one main house and one tenant house.

For more than 40 years, the Brighams have owned the property and here raised their family. Both share a keen interest in history and are active members of the nearby Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse, which served as a hospital for wounded soldiers immediately following the Battle of the Brandywine.

"We are glad to play a role in the preservation of open space and privileged to help in saving a part of the Brandywine Battlefield," said Mr. Brigham.

The Brigham easement is the first of a series of easements planned by the Brandywine Battlefield Task Force. Formed in 1993, the Task Force includes representatives from Birmingham Township, Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates, Brandywine Conservancy,

Chester County Parks and Recreation, Chadds Ford Historical Society, Chester County Planning Commission, Delaware County Planning Department, Pennsbury Township, and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

The Task Force is charged with directing preservation activities within the ten-square-mile Brandywine Battlefield National Historic Landmark. The initial conservation easement efforts of the Task Force have focused on the 300-acre Meetinghouse Road Corridor area, where the fiercest fighting of the battle took place.

In recent years, the corridor and adjacent land have been subject to intense development pressure. Suburban sprawl in the area has increased considerably the value of remaining open space. For this reason, the Task Force, led by the Brandywine Conservancy, determined that it would be necessary to purchase conservation easements on the Battlefield in order to protect it from further development.

The purchase of the Brigham conservation easement was supported by grants from Birmingham Township, Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau, Chester County Preservation Partnership Program, McLean Contributionship, National Park Service, and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Project support was also received from the Fairplay Foundation.

In 1999, the campaign to save the Battlefield reached a milestone when the U.S. Congress authorized $3 million for the preservation effort through the Patriot Act, championed by U.S. Representative Curt Weldon.

Many individuals provided critical fund raising and advocacy assistance including PA State Senator Clarence Bell, Brandywine Battlefield Task Force members, the Chester County Commissioners, U.S. Representative Joseph Pitts, PA State Representative Chris Ross, U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, PA State Senator Bob Thompson and U.S. Representative Curt Weldon.

Since 1967, the Conservancy's Environmental Management Center has provided conservation solutions to landowners, farmers and municipalities by taking a comprehensive approach to cutting-edge environmental planning and management.

Through conservation easements, assistance to local governments, historic preservation, and water protection efforts, the Conservancy has been instrumental in permanently protecting more than 35,000 acres of land.

For more information about the Brandywine Conservancy and the preservation of the Brandywine Battlefield, please call (610) 388-2700.

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