The role of the Sheep in shaping Britains Landscape and History, Part Two; The breeds of sheep that made Britain prosperous

Part Two, The breeds of Sheep that made Britain prosperous

In Part 1 of this 3-part series of articles I covered how sheep farming became a major industry in the British isles, in this post I’ll look at some of the breeds of sheep that made Britain prosperous, in particular wool breeds, see the article below on Sheep terminology for an explanation of any terms used which you don’t understand (There’s lots of weird, archaic terminology used in sheep farming!) https://northwestnatureandhistory.wordpress.com/2023/01/03/baa-ram-ewe-an-a-to-z-of-sheep-terminology/

Wool production

In the 600 years between the 12th and 18th centuries the main reason for farming sheep in the British isles was for the production of wool.

Sheep milk for the making of cheese, and the collection of manure for improving the fertility of soil and drying out for fuel were considered low value by products.

The mere thought of slaughtering lambs for meat, which is the main reason for farming sheep now, would have been inconceivable for the medieval to early modern age sheep farmer and simply wouldn’t have crossed their minds, a Sheep was only fattened for slaughtering when it became too old to produce wool.

Most modern Sheep breeds didn’t exist then and were only created through breeding later on, instead Sheep were classified by the type of wool they produced in different regions of the country, which depended on the area’s grazing and climate.

Roughly speaking, there were small, horned, white, tan or black-faced coarse-wool sheep on the poorer grazing that was found in the Westcountry, Wales and the North-west; indeed if you look at the breeds of sheep that can be found in the Northwest nowadays, some of which are listed in the article below, you might notice that these kinds of breeds, such as the Swaledale, still predominate. https://northwestnatureandhistory.wordpress.com/2023/03/02/some-of-the-breeds-of-hill-sheep-that-can-be-found-in-the-northwest/

Lemster Ore

In areas of the country with better grazing and a milder climate, such as the Cotswolds, Kent, Lincolnshire, the Midlands and lowland Yorkshire, larger types of sheep were found, which were polled and had longer wool and on the downland pastures of the South coast and Welsh border countries types of sheep which had dense fleeces and short wool were kept.

This last type of fleece produced the most sought-after wool and the best wool of all was widely considered to be that which came from the Benedictine Monastery at Leominster, famously known as the ‘Lemster Ore’, “that with the silkworm’s thread, the finest doth compare”. This type of wool came from a breed of sheep called the Ryeland,

The name of the Ryeland derives from the farming system that was practised on the downlands, where Rye would be grown for bread, when the Rye had been harvested Sheep were turned out onto the fields to graze. It was soon found that in order to keep the fine wool of the sheep, for which they are famous, it was necessary for the sheep to be kept in covered pens so that they would be sheltered from the cold at night.

Queen Elizabeth the First, who reigned from 1558 to 1603, was once presented with a pair of Ryeland wool stockings and she was so pleased with them that she swore afterwards to only wear clothes woven from Ryeland wool. In the Tudor and Stuart periods the English wool industry used Ryeland wool extensively and this is how it earned the nickname ‘Lemster ore’, as it became more valuable pound for pound, than gold.

Medieval sheep farmers improved the quality of their wool through means such as agricultural improvements and superior grazing, but long and dense wool sheep breeds both had their origins in the Roman sheep that survived on the Kent marshes after the departure of the Romans.

These had become the property of the Benedictine Order after it was established at Canterbury in AD597 and “Canterbury” Sheep as they became known were taken to newer Benedictine houses such as Leominster whenever they were founded.

Rapid Change

As the 18th century approached the country was going through massive changes and every section of society had to adapt, but nobody had to do so more than farmers, who had to face the challenges of supply and demand created by the rapidly rising population, the increase in the U.K.s colonies, the creation of a large standing army and a burgeoning distillery industry, all of which led to a need for more arable land to produce fruit, crops and grain.

Every farm was caught up in the fever for improvement in crops and livestock fuelled by escalating food prices, and Sheep farmers who up to now had bred mainly for wool, now had to breed for lamb and mutton.

In the final chapter I’ll cover some of these changes and some of the adaptations that the Sheep farmers had to make to their centuries old ways of farming.

A B-H