Ryelands are a truly old English breed and have been tracked back over 700 years to the monks of Leominster in Herefordshire who grazed their flocks on pastures or rye grass giving the sheep their name. Ryelands are stocky, quiet engaging sheep, they are raised for meat and although they tend to be smaller than most meat breeds their meat has a unique fine grained texture and a subtle flavor that is outstanding. Ryelands were taken to Australia in the early 1900s where they are one of the heritage breeds that are the foundation of the Australian sheep industry, they are naturally polled (without horns) and were used to breed with Dorsets to introduce the poll gene forming the Polled Dorset which is one of the mainstays of the meat industry.
Ryelands have also found fame for their fleece which is unusually soft and springy, again a favourite with spinners. Queen Elizabeth I was once given a pair of Ryeland wool stockings and thereafter insisted that she would wear only Ryeland wool.
We have both white and coloured Ryelands, they are definitely a firm favourite with us, Paddy our coloured ram has won a few prizes in his time and likes nothing better than to have his head scratched and try and find a bit of extra feed.
