Kerry Hill

It comes from the hills around the town of Kerry on the England–Wales border; records go back to 1809, and it was officially recognised in 1899 when the Kerry Hill Flock Book Society was founded. It has been present in continental Europe since 1992.

Traditionally kept for meat and wool, it became rare as farming changed and was put on the rare-breeds watchlist, but its striking looks made it fashionable again among smallholders, and in 2006 it was removed from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust list. It is sturdy, disease-resistant, lively and alert, not prone to lameness, with a prolificacy of 1.7–1.9.

The head is black and white, with a black patch around each eye, two-thirds of it in front of the eye; the nose is black. The ears are set high and are black, or at least 25% black from the front; both sexes are polled. The legs are spotted black and white, the hooves black and the fleece dense and white. Ewes weigh 45–60 kg and rams 70–90 kg.