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Unit 1: Overview of the UK Sheep Industry
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History of UK Sheep Farming
Factors affecting the UK Sheep Industry
Facts and figures about the UK sheep industry
Unit 1: Overview of the UK Sheep Industry

History of UK Sheep Farming

 

In this section we will explore how UK sheep farming has evolved over the years; it will include the following:

  • The beginning of Sheep Production in the UK
  • Wool
  • Meat

You can navigate to the most relevant learning outcome or work through the unit from the beginning to the end.

Sheep Production in the UK

In the UK, sheep farming has always been an important industry, with meat, wool, milk and sheepskin forming the basis of trade for centuries. Today, the main product of sheep is meat, although there's still a market for the other products.
Sheep have been farmed in the UK since Neolithic times in around 4000 BC. Evidence suggests that in ancient Britain, they were brown with horns. Ancestors of the semi-feral Soay sheep can still be found today, mainly on the Isle of Soay in St Kilda, Scotland.
Farming has developed dramatically from better infrastructure, more robust animal health protocols and technological advances.
In Bronze Age times sheep were widespread and took a role equal to that of pigs and cattle, while later became the dominant animal.

Wool was one of the first textile materials to be spun and woven to form clothing for people, especially during the wet and colder period of the Iron Age.

In Roman times, Britain was famous for producing high quality woollen products. In Anglo-Saxon times records show that woollen cloaks were desirable items. At the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 and the Domesday survey that soon followed, sheep were recorded as the dominant farm animal.

Wool

 

Wool is shorn annually due to animal welfare reasons. Sheep breeds have evolved and developed over the years to produce various types of wool, from sheep living on the harsh hills, with their thicker and more robust wool, compared to lowland sheep, with softer wool. The wide variation in the fleece and the suitability of certain breeds to certain areas is a phenomenon unique to British sheep breeds.

Meat

 

The majority of lambs born across the UK are supplied to the meat production industry. But a proportion of lambs are kept for breeding.

Prime lamb is meat that is under 1 year old, and anything older than that is considered mutton.

Ewes that are not considered suitable to be retained in the flock will be sold as ‘cull ewes.’ These ewes would be culled and the meat sold for foods like ready meals.

We’ll find out more about lambs selection and selling methods in module 4.

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