London Staple

Leaving Highclere Park in the spring, cars and their occupants pause to take photos, for once not of the Castle but of the sheep and their lambs. The lambs offer endless entertainment: the ewes seem to run some sort of mutually agreed creche system so that the lambs can play together, chasing each other round or jumping on and off old tree stumps, little tails waggling and clearly pleased with their own prowess. They are and always have been an intrinsic part of this season at Highclere.

Today we have a flock of 1400 ewes: Romneys, Lleyns and Romney Lleyns crosses. The Romney breed evolved from medieval longwool types and records of sheep rearing on Roney Marsh in Kent can be traced back to the 13th century. Given its discrete landscape, the Romney breed has evolved over the centuries in comparative isolation and one of its advantages is its relative resistance to foot rot in comparison to many other breeds. A small group of Romneys were exported from England to New Zealand in 1853 for just this reason. 

In 1823, William Cobbett, English journalist, politician and farmer, wrote of the sheep that “they take their name from the marsh. They are called Romney Marsh sheep. Very pretty and large. The wethers, when fat, weigh about twelve stone, or one hundred pounds. The faces of these sheep are white: and, indeed, the whole sheep is as white as a piece of writing paper. The wool does not look dirty and oily like that of other sheep”.

William Cobbett also rode through Lord Carnarvon’s park which he described as the prettiest he had ever seen so perhaps the combination of the sheep and the park would lead him into even further raptures today!

The gestation time for a ewe is five months and Simon the farm manager and Matt the shepherd aim for April lambing, when the weather has hopefully turned and all the single and twin ewes can lamb outside. Nevertheless, there is a continual patrol to ensure we are there to help those mothers who need it. This then leaves the ewes with triplets plus a matching number of singles to lamb in the barns under Beacon Hill. 
Arriving at the barns, I first hear the ewes and lambs before, drawing closer, there is the familiar smell of haylage, straw and sheep – magic and the promise of tiny white bundles of legs and noisy angular heads.

It is a time of year in which nothing has fundamentally changed. Sheep have been a valued part of the landscape here for well over a thousand years. Early 8th century charters for Highclere mention sheep “dells” – sheltered areas good for grazing and by medieval times sheep contributed a third of England’s export revenues. 

The 14th century in England in particular witnessed rapid changes in society, trade and climate, the later leading to what is often called a mini ice age. The Black Death fundamentally altered the terms of contract between landowner and worker, and agriculture developed from subsistence farming to one of cash generation. Living standards rose and those who survived the plague spent their money on better clothes and pleasure – each day was to be enjoyed as you never knew what might be around the corner. Wool was the critical cornerstone of the English economy to the point where a golden sheep adorned the London Staple, the forerunner of the Stock Exchange. Today, the Lord Chancellor still sits on the woolsack in Parliament. 

At Highclere today, sheep play a key role in our stewardship of the landscape of the chalk downlands. The nature of their grazing forms part of a complex relationship allowing grasses and other plants to thrive which in turn provide a home and food for birds, butterflies, moths and many other insects. The wool now goes into mattresses, and we have begun selling the meat directly to customers which is better value as well as unprocessed and therefore healthier food.