Brecknock Hill Cheviot Sheep

There are three distinct Cheviot sheep breeds here in the UK.  The South Country Cheviot, The North Country Cheviot and the Brecknock Hill Cheviot.  All three varieties share distinctive looks: they have wool-free white faces, upright and perky ears, Roman noses, dark nostrils, and their eyes are ringed dark which makes them look like they are wearing eye-liner. All three then have their own distinguishing features and characteristics and they are different in size and whether they have horns or not.  Each have their own blog post so be sure to click on links within the posts to navigate between the three.

I don't think I need to say that this is a ram, but I will, just in case you've not got your glasses on or you think that this is a cow with udders!

The Brecknock Hill Cheviot is a breed of Cheviot that has been developed in Wales but I am finding conflicting information on this breed.  A reference book that I have from the British Wool Marketing Board states that this breed is descended from the early border Cheviot and established 400 years ago (the 17th century) in the Brecon Beacons but only recognised in the mid 19th century when they were further developed.  Wikipedia claims that they have their origins from 400 years ago in Wales and it also claims that they are the result of Cheviots being crossed with Welsh Mountain and Leicester breeds.  However, another reference book that I have and the information I can find from the Breed Association's website states that it was introduced into the Brecknockshire area in the 1800's (19th century) and adapted itself to the wet uplands and hills of the Brecon Beacons and developed a new strain of Cheviots.  

The Breed Association's website does state that crosses and terminal sires are often used in the production of lamb for the meat markets but also that pure breeding needs to occur to keep the breed alive and produce ewes for cross breeding.  I'm not a farmer and I do my best to try to digest and understand this cross breeding information but I don't really understand it in all honesty.  I live on a housing estate on the outskirts of Birmingham and my interest is more in the fleece and fibre and the yarns I can make and obviously I do care about rare breed sheep and their survival as I kind of have a vested interest in keeping them from becoming extinct.

The Brecknock Hill Cheviot are a hardy, adaptable hill sheep weighing in at around 60kg for a ewe and rams are around 90kg and can be found in Mid-Wales, around the Brecon Beacons.  They are white-faced with no wool on the face or on the legs below the knee, Roman noses, dark nostrils, and their eyes are ringed dark which makes them look like they are wearing eye-liner..  The Wool Marketing Board reference book states that they have a ruff of wool behind erect ears and the white springy wool can sometimes contain kemp, whereas the Breed Association website states that there is no ruff or wool behind the ears.  They are generally polled although sometimes rams have horns.   At the time of writing they are in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 6: Other UK Native Breeds (over 3000) registered breeding ewes.

The fleece is dense, with crisp, lustrous wool.  The fleece weigh 1.5kg-2.5kg with a staple length of 2.4-4 inches (6.5-10cm) and a three dimensional crimp.  They have a finer fibre profile but they may have some kemp and one of my reference books states that it comes in a full range of natural colours but I can't find this information elsewhere nor can I find any photos of coloured sheep of this breed, this fact does not seem to be mentioned at all, which is a concern for me.

The fleece is described as "chalky" and whilst the wool dyes wells it does not have the brilliance of the longwools.  If you have a short fleece it can be carded but usually it is long enough to be flicked or combed.  It is good for socks, sweaters and the like.

I have bought this breed in as 100g of coloured pre-washed fleece and this is why I am so concerned now at this write up stage that I can't find anything about a coloured version other than a mention in the Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook.  However, the fleece was sourced from the someone in the Brecon Beacons which is a good start and they claim that the sheep they keep are Coloured Brecknock Hill Cheviots.

I got 70g of hand combed top from the fleece and I then had to blend a couple of the bumps together to even the colour out.

My finished yarn is of good quality to the touch of the hand, its quite soft and there is 70g/159m.  My knitted piece for the project only took 46g/105m so I have a small amount left to do whatever with.