The Teeswater is a breed of sheep from
Teesdale, England.
It is a longwool breed that produces a generally large-diameter fibre.
However, the animals are raised primarily for
meat.
Teeswater sheep have been bred in northern England, Great Britain for about two hundred years; the breed was rare by the 1920s, but has seen a renaissance since
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. The
Rare Breeds Survival Trust has categorised the breed as "at risk".
The Teeswater Sheep Breeders' Association was formed in 1949 with the aim to encourage and improve the breeding of Teeswater sheep; to maintain their purity and particularly to establish the supremacy of Teeswater rams for crossing with hill sheep of other breeds for the production of half-bred lambs.
Characteristics
The wool of the Teeswater should be fine, long-stapled with high lustre with each lock hanging free and with no tendency to felt. There should be no dark fibres in the fleece, which should be uniform in texture over the whole body. The Teeswater produces a
kemp Kemp may refer to:
Places
* Kemp, Illinois
* Kemp, Ohio
* Kemp, Oklahoma
* Kemp, Texas
* Kemp Land and Kemp Coast, Antarctica
* Kemp Town, a 19th-century estate in East Sussex, England
* Kemps Corner, place in India
People
* Kemp (surname)
* Ke ...
free fleece, a characteristic it passes on.
's "An Encyclopaedia of Agriculture" of 1825 describes the breed as:
The Teeswater sheep differ from the Lincolnshire in their wool not being so long and heavy; in standing upon higher, though finer boned legs, supporting a thicker, firmer and heavier carcase, much wider upon their backs and sides; and in affording a fatter and finer grained carcase of mutton...[
]
References
{{British livestock, R.1
Sheep breeds originating in England
Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist