Hampshire Down
British beed of sheep
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hampshire Down or Hampshire is a British breed of sheep. It originated in the early nineteenth century from cross-breeding of the new Southdown breed with the traditional tall, horned, white-faced sheep native to the open, untilled, chalk downland of the Hampshire Downs – the Wiltshire Horn, the Berkshire Nott and the old local Hampshire sheep.[5]: 820 It is much used as a terminal sire.
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An ewe | |
_(cropped).jpg) A ram | |
| Conservation status | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Hampshire |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Distribution | 21 countries world-wide[2] |
| Standard | Hampshire Down Sheep Breeders Association |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Height | |
| Wool colour | white |
| Horn status | polled (hornless) in both sexes |
| |
History
The Hampshire Down originated in the first half of the nineteenth century from cross-breeding of the new Southdown breed with the traditional tall, horned, white-faced sheep native to the open, untilled, chalk downland of the Hampshire Downs.[5]: 820 From 1839 the breeder William Humphrey, of Newbury in Berkshire, used a ram from the Southdown flock of Jonas Webb, of Babraham in Cambridgeshire, on local Berkshire ewes;[6]: 492 [5]: 820 The resulting stock was later crossed with the Wiltshire Horn and with the old local Hampshire sheep.[5]: 820
The new breed received the recognition of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in either 1859[7]: 319 or 1861;[5]: 820 a breed society was formed in 1890,[5]: 820 [8] and a flock-book was started in the same year.[7]: 319
In the twenty-first century it is distributed principally in Berkshire, in Hampshire and in Wiltshire, with some stock elsewhere in southern England.[9]: 75 Its conservation status world-wide is "not at risk".[3] In the United Kingdom, where the total population for 2024 is reported at 4430 head, its status is "at risk/vulnerable";[3] the Rare Breeds Survival Trust listed it on its watchlist for 2025–2026 among the "other native breeds", the lowest level of concern of the trust.[4]
The sheep have been exported to many countries on all five inhabited continents; populations of over 10000 head are reported by Argentina and Brazil.[2] The Hampshire Down has contributed to the development of many other breeds, among them the other Down breeds of the United Kingdom – including the Oxford Down and Dorset Down – and also the German Schwarzköpfiges Fleischschaf, the Black-Headed Polish of Poland and the Gorki of the Russian Federation.[6]: 494 [5]: 820
Characteristics
It is a large sheep: average weights are 80 kg for ewes and 120 kg for rams;[5]: 820 heights at the withers are usually in the ranges 55 to 70 cm and 95 to 115 cm respectively.[10]: 15 The fleece is thick and white, extending over the upper part of the face; the face, ears and legs are brown or black, the skin fine and unpigmented.[5]: 820 [11]
Use
The Hampshire Down is reared principally for meat. Rams are much used as terminal sires in the three-generation cross-breeding system commonly used by commercial breeding operations.[9]: 75
Ewe fleeces usually weigh some 2.5–4 kg greasy, with a staple length of 60–100 mm and a fibre diameter of 25–33 μm, equivalent to a Bradford Count of 56/60s.[10]: 15 [5]: 820 The wool may be used to make knitting wools or in the manufacture of hosiery, felts and flannel, or for blending with wools of other types.[5]: 820 [9]: 75
Gallery
Photograph by Frank Babbage, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911
At the East of England Show, 2011
