Lincoln Longwool Sheep

The Lincoln Longwool breed of sheep has been around since at least the 13th century and was improved during the 18th century by using some of Robert Bakewells improved Leicesters (which had themselves been improved using the Lincoln and so carried some Lincoln genes).  Originally they were tall sheep with a long, coarse fleece but they were thin and did not provide good meat and so by improving them with the improved Leicesters introduced the genetics for a heavier carcass and more meat whilst also not diluting the Lincoln genetics too much.

The Lincoln Longwool sheep, at the time of writing, is in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 3: Vulnerable (500-900) registered breeding ewes and they are mostly in Yorkshire and Humberside but are also popular with smallholders.  Once very popular due to the sheer volume and lustrousness of the fleece during the late 19th century and early 20th century by the 1950's numbers fell sharply and by the 1970's the breed was on the brink of extinction following the introduction and popularity of the new oil-derived fibres such as acrylic.  Thankfully there were three very dedicated and determined breeders that go by the names of Watts, Bird and Read who maintained their bloodlines and kept the breed alive.  By 1990 there were over 100 registered flocks, still nowhere near the 350 flocks of 1900, but better than it had been.  Today, the breeding numbers have dropped once again and with the majority of those left being located in Lincolnshire, should there be another outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease the breed is extremely vulnerable to extinction.

They are the largest of the British breeds and produce the heaviest, longest and most lustrous fleece of any breed worldwide.  Despite their huge side, with ewes weighing in at 91kg-113kg and rams being 110kg-160kg, they are extremely docile.  Both sexes are polled.   They have white faces, dark ears, a wide forelock of wool and the legs are white and woolly

They produce a huge size fleece of generally 5.4kg-9.1kg that has very long locks of around 7-15 inches (18-38cm).  The locks are distinct, firm and heavy with pointed and often spiralled tips and defined crimp.  Most of the fleece are white but some coloured fleece do exist and they tend to be multi-shaded, not a solid overall colour.  The fibres are generally up in the 40 something microns, beautiful and lustrous but definitely not soft and cuddly.

This fleece can be spun from teased locks, it can be picked, flicked or combed using Viking combs.  The length and coarseness of the fibres does not make it a candidate for carding.  Spin smoothly and keep hands far apart for drafting to occur.  Takes dye well due to the lustre.  I have prepared and dyed an amount of Lincoln Longwool before and I dyed it in three colours, here, here and here.

Yarns spun from Lincoln Longwool fleece are definitely not for next-to-skin items and are best suited to household items and upholstery and not for any kind of clothing except maybe a lined jacket.  They make hard-wearing, sturdy beautiful fabrics.

I have bought this breed in as 100g of pre-prepared fibre.

I forgot to take any spin-in-progress photos so I only have the finished skein.

My finished yarn is of crisp and sturdy to the touch of the hand and you can feel the prickly hair but the lustre, ooohhhhhhh, the lustre!.  I have 99g/135m of sport weight yarn, so quite dense compared to some of my yarns in this weight but this is a Longwool breed and my years of experience told me that this would be a dense type yarn, all Longwool spins are! My knitted piece for the project only 57g/78m so I have some left to do whatever with.