The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank will expand the Fulling Mill Brook Preserve in Chilmark with the purchase this week of 17 acres on Middle Road.

Land purchase will create link between Fulling Mill Brook Preserve and Peaked Hill Reservation. — Graham Smith

The land bank paid $1,775,000 to siblings Emily and Oliver Rothschild for the property, according to a press release.

The purchase will help create a trail connecting Fulling Mill Brook to the land bank's Peaked Hill Reservation to the north.

The Rothschild land runs from Middle Road south to the Fulling Mill Brook Preserve, a 50-acre conservation area that includes wetlands, woodlands and the pristine waters of Fulling Mill Brook. Historically wool and corn mills were located in the area, lending the brook its name.

The land bank said preliminary plans call for a roadside field on the property to be made available for a pasture lease.

A trail will be created along the far reaches of the field, the land bank said, connecting Fulling Mill Brook with Peaked Hill Road, creating a corridor to Peaked Hill Reservation.