Romney sheep

The Romney, formerly called the Romney Marsh sheep but generally referred to by the local farmers as the Kent, is a breed of sheep originating in England. The Romney is a "long-wool" breed recognized in England by 1800. Exported to other continents, the Romney is an economically-important sheep breed, especially to the sheep-meat and wool export trades of New Zealand.

History of the breed

Origins

The breed evolved from medieval longwool types of which the Romney and Leicester breeds are early examples. The sheep recognized by 1800 as "Romney Marsh" or "Kent" were improved in body type and fleece quality through crossings with Bakewell’s English Leicester. A Romney can be either colored or white.

International spread

The first confirmed export of Romneys from England was a shipment of twenty from Stone, Kent that went on the Cornwall to New Zealand in 1853. With these and a further thirty ewes sent in 1856, Alfred Ludlum established New Zealand’s first Romney Marsh stud in 1860 at Newry, in the Hutt Valley, and Ludlam's brother-in-law, Augustus Onslow Manby Gibbes, also bred them around this time in Australia—at his famous sheep property, Yarralumla.