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Large, Lean Carcase
Highest Scrapie Resistance
Superb Fleece
The Wensleydale is an old English breed of longwool sheep from the Yorkshire Dales, renowned for its stature, lean meat and superb fleece. (see History) It is distinctive-tall, long bodied, deep chested, with an alert head, clean face and dark skin. It is probably the heaviest of our indigenous breeds. Its magnificent long, lustrous, curling fleece is reputedly ‘the finest longwool in the world.
Recent testing has shown it to have the highest scrapie resistance of all sheep in Britain. This, together with its size, gives good reason to use it as a crossing sire on hill breeds. The female progeny have improved fleece and scrapie resistance which when put to a terminal sire, give heavy but lean lambs. Traditionally the Wensleydale is put to a Swaledale to yield a Masham ewe.