Sheep breed
Swaledale
Swaledale
A hardy northern English hill sheep with a black-and-white face and curled horns.
Description1
An English sheep breed named after Swaledale in Yorkshire. It is found on many British uplands, mainly the Cumbrian side of the Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales and County Durham; with the Rough Fell, Herdwick and Dalesbred it is one of the four characteristic breeds of the Lake District.
It is closely related to the Scottish Blackface and the Rough Fell; all three come from the windswept northern uplands of the UK, and their most likely common ancestor is the 17th-century Linton sheep. Its breeders' association was founded in 1919.
A sturdy, hardy, medium-sized sheep; ewes rear their lambs even in poor conditions. The black face has white markings around the eyes and muzzle, and both sexes have curled horns. Its thick, coarse, white or off-white wool is of little value, so it is kept mainly for meat and is sometimes crossed with other breeds.
History1
17th century
Its most likely ancestor is the Linton sheep; by the early 18th century the West Linton fair sold 9,000 sheep in a single day.
1919
The Swaledale Sheep Breeders' Association is founded to oversee breeding, showing and sale of the breed.
Breed standard and breed society
The official breed description, breeding goal and herdbook rules are published by the breed's recognised breed society.
- Wikipédia – Swaledale juhhttps://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaledale_juh
Photo gallery
All photos are freely licensed (Wikimedia Commons, Flickr); author, source and licence are shown under each image.
Sources
Accessed: 2026-10-18.