Wensleydale sheep

For other uses, see Wensleydale (disambiguation).

Wensleydale

Conservation status	FAO (2007): not at risk [1] : 138  RBST (2019): at risk [2] DAD-IS (2025): at risk/endangered [3]
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Standard	Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders Association
Sheep Ovis aries

A Wensleydale in full fleece

The Wensleydale is a British breed of domestic sheep. ^{[1] [3]} It is named for the Wensleydale region of North Yorkshire, in the north of England, where it was bred in the early nineteenth century by cross-breeding a Dishley Leicester ram with local long-woolled sheep of a breed that is now extinct. ^[2] It has a blue-grey face and long purled wool, and is among the heaviest of British sheep breeds. It is an endangered breed, and is categorised as "at risk" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. ^[2] It is often used as a ram breed to cross with other breeds to obtain market lambs, and for its high-quality wool. ^[2]

History

The mating of a Leicester ram with a Teeswater ewe in 1838 made the famous ram Bluecap who was the first sire of the Wensleydale breed. ^[4]

Two breed societies were formed in the late nineteenth century; after the First World War they merged to form the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders Association. ^[5]

The Wensleydale contributed to the development of the Blue-faced Leicester. ^{[6] : 765}

Characteristics

The Wensleydale has a grey-black face, ears and legs. The ears are slightly elongated and stand upright. They are naturally polled and have a tuft of long wool on top of the head which is not typically shorn (for aesthetic purposes).The wool that falls between the ears and across the face is known as the topping. ^[7]

Rams weigh about 126 kg (280 lb) and ewes about 90 kg (200 lb). ^[3]

• 
  The fleece
• 
  A six-day-old lamb
• 
  After shearing

References

1. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN   9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
2. Wensleydale. Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived 9 June 2019.
3. Breed data sheet: Wensleydale / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Sheep). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2025.
4. Hall, Stephen (1995). Two hundred years of British farm livestock. London: HMSO. p. 157. ISBN   0113100558.
5. Breed History. The Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders Association. Accessed June 2025.
6. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN   9781780647944.
7. Chris Berry (31 October 2020). A rare breed that is 'on the up'. The Yorkshire Post, 31 October 2020, page 12. ISSN   0963-1496.