They’ve been beautifully painted by Radnor-based artist Seren Bell, who is entranced by their ‘ancient bony heads’ and black-and-white uniformity.īakewellian theory is responsible for this sturdy white sheep from north-west Wales. These sheep, with their beautiful, elegant faces, have been bred almost exclusively for more than a century on the hills of Eppynt, Llanafan, Abergwesyn and Llanwrtyd Wells in Powys, although the bigger draft ewes are now in demand with lowland farmers to cross with their Continental, Suffolk or Down rams. Television presenter Kate Humble is a fan. It splits into two exacting colour schemes: the more usual Torddu, meaning ‘black belly’, is a white sheep with black eye stripes and a black underbelly that stretches up to the jaw and the much rarer Torwen, ‘white belly’, is a black sheep with small white eye patches-both parents need to carry the badger-face gene for the lamb to have the markings. This ancient Welsh mountain breed is the most well represented native sheep at the Royal Welsh Show, where about 200 make for a striking checkerboard display. It hails from the Tywi valley in Carmarthenshire and was nearly wiped out by 1947 when there was only one ram left, but smallholder interest boomed and it’s had a breed society since 1985. Wales has all sorts of hill breeds, including the now ubiquitous Welsh Mountain Black and the more localised Hill Radnor, Brecknock Hill Cheviot and Llandovery Whiteface, but the Balwen, which means ‘white blaze’ in Welsh, is arguably the handsomest, with its uniform facial marking, four white socks (mandatory in males) and white-tipped long tail like a fox’s brush. It’s patently not one of the most commercial types, but it does look pretty in the field. After Sir Jock’s death, RBST founder the late Joe Henson kept the breed going at his Cotswold Farm Park. He mixed Manx Loaghtan, Mouflon and Moorit (lowland Scots for cappuccino-coloured) Shetland blood to produce this pretty, pale-bellied sheep. ![]() Sir Jock Buchanan-Jardine bred this dainty sheep specifically to adorn the parkland of his Castlemilk estate in Dumfriesshire. Country Life's Top 100 architects, builders, designers and gardeners.
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