Wensleydale Sheep

Helen Babbs meets the hardy Yorkshire breed with the magnificent fleece.

- Helen Babbs

Wensleydale sheep have a short history compared to many other native British sheep breeds They were developed in the early 1800s as a hardy hill breed which could thrive in the Yorkshire Dales conditions while producing both fine wool and good meat. Wensleydales are still a thrifty, dual-purpose breed, but with the shift to modern breeds such as Texels, they have largely gone out of favour. Fewer than 1500 pure-bred ewes are now registered in the UK, putting the breed as “At risk” in the Rare Breed Survival Trust’s ranking scheme, and their numbers continue to decrease.

One person counteracting this decline is Jayne Dryden, who keeps the Home Farm Wensleydales flock near Edge Hill. Jayne finds her pedigree Wensleydales thrive on her Cotswold farm just as well as they do in the Yorkshire Dales – her original flock of 23 has now grown to 300!

Fine Fibre

When starting her flock in 2011, Jayne chose Wensleydale sheep because of their wool. “I’m a bit of a fibre freak,” she explains, “and Wensleydales have the finest fibre you can get.” Wensleydales are a long-wool breed, growing long silky ringlets of wool all over, including on the legs and belly. Staple length is typically 20-25cm, although on some shearlings the locks can be up to 40cm long! The wool may be either black, which spans a variety of shades from pure black to light grey, or more commonly white. Added colour variation occurs when the tips of the black fleeces are bleached by exposure to sunlight. This broad natural colour spectrum makes Wensleydale fleece popular with hand-spinners.