MARK-IT Trail: The Returners

The Lincoln Longwool is a British native – a cross between the Leicester and the coarse native sheep of Lincolnshire –and consequently the breed thrives in our climate. The largest of our native breeds, it is rather rectangular in shape, deep-bodied and wide, and with a head larger and bolder than in other long-wooled breeds.

Lincolns have been bred for both meat and wool. Their wool has always been of primary importance, with ewe fleeces weighing between 12 and 20 pounds (5.4 – 9 kg). Annual shearing is essential. The wool is coarse and somewhat hair-like and the heavy locks tend to twist into spirals towards their ends. The fleece is clear white and has a definite lustre. However, when cotton largely began to replace wool their numbers declined. It is now a heritage breed of great national importance.

They are thoroughly domesticated and, despite their size, very docile. They can easily be trained to come to the sound of a rattling feed bucket, making- them easy to manoeuvre, without the need for a dog.

Lincoln ewes have strong maternal instincts and make good mothers. With easy lambing and milky ewes they produce excellent lambs for the market and fit well into a more sustainable way of farming.

The Lincoln Red emerged from cross breeding in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and was subsequently bred as a dual beef and milk animal.

The Lincoln Red is reasonably large-framed, with a strong, broad muzzle, well-placed legs and sturdy feet. They are a deep cherry red in colour. An early maturing breed, they require minimum care, are easy calvers and are not prone to sunburn or eye cancer.

They are feed-efficient, being good convertors of forage and easily adaptable to regional grazing and climate conditions.

Their beef is marbled, flavourful and succulent. 

Nevertheless, with the widespread importing of continental breeds in the 1970s and 1980s, Lincoln Reds, along with other indigenous British breeds, fell out of favour. The pendulum, however, has begun to swing back again. With the ever-increasing cost of imports, native breeds, with their feed efficiency off pasture, are returning to popularity again.