Early history

The root word of the breed's name, herdvyck, "sheep pasture", is recorded in documents dating back to the 12th century.^[4] The origin of the breed itself is unknown, but the most common theory is that the ancestors of Herdwick sheep were introduced by early Norse settlers.^[1] According to this, it was brought to the region somewhere between the 10th and 11th centuries during the Viking invasions of western England.^[1] Although a piece of local folklore once suggested that it came from a wrecked Spanish Armada ship,^[5] it appears that the Herdwick was an important breed in the Lake District by the end of the 12th century.^[6]

For centuries, the husbandry of Herdwick sheep has been a large factor in shaping the culture and terrain of the Lake District. Topographically, grazing by sheep continues to keep the hillsides of fells largely treeless, and the ubiquitous dry stone walls of the valleys were built to protect grazing land and to confine livestock. Linguistically, many words of Lakeland speech relate to sheep husbandry. The ancient Yan Tan Tethera counting system for sheep is a survival of Brittonic counting systems.^[7]

Modern history

In the modern era, the main industry of the Lake District has shifted from agriculture to tourism. The subsequent influx of tourists to the District has at times conflicted with traditional life, including the raising of Herdwicks. One Lake District farmer summed the problem up as, "We get 100,000 visitors across our land every year... If just one in a thousand forgets to shut a gate or can't be bothered, that's a hundred times we have to go out and round up our sheep."^[1]

In the late 20th century, the keeping of Herdwicks became economically unviable without outside support; open market prices for Herdwick fleeces sometimes drop as low as a penny a kilogram (which is about the weight of wool from a single sheep).^[1] Without direct monetary guarantees for wool prices from the National Trust, it actually costs farmers a considerably larger amount of money to shear their Herdwicks than they would receive in compensation; the majority of farmers once burned their fleeces as waste products.^[9] The Trust now acts as a wool merchant itself, thus being able to bargain for better prices directly with the British Wool Marketing Board and operate a Herdwick wool trademark.^[9] Most farmers survive through the sale of lambs, as well as both National Trust and European Union farm subsidies. Lake District farmers in particular receive subsidies for operating in a designated Less Favoured Area from the England Rural Development Programme. Those who agree to maintain their land in accordance with sustainable farming practices also receive additional subsidies.^[1]

Ninety-five percent of all 50,000 or so Herdwicks live within 14 miles of Coniston, Cumbria,^[10] and this makes them particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of disease. The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 led to the destruction of many flocks, and to fears for the survival both of the breed and of the typical Lakeland sheep farming industry.^[11] Of the estimated 100,000 Herdwick sheep present before the outbreak, a full 25% were lost. They were not easily replaceable because long-standing herds are hefted so the introduction of new stock to the fells would have required extensive fencing. The call for vaccination rather than culling to preserve what is considered a part of the traditional identity of the fells and moors was led by parties such as the Duke of Westminster, Earl Peel, Lord Barnard and Lord Lonsdale, who wished to save the hill sheep on their lands.^[12] Many Lake District residents saw the breed as an indispensable icon of the region. Longtime resident and writer for The Guardian A. Harry Griffin expressed this feeling:

There are other mountain sheep on the Lakeland fells, notably Swaledales and Rough-Fells, but the hardy Herdwick is the sheep most likely to be seen in and around the Duddon valley, the Coniston fells, the Buttermere fells and, through Borrowdale or Wasdale, up to the highest land in England, the Scafells. More than the old drystone walls that quarter the fells, the packhorse bridges or the whitewashed farmsteads, the little grey Herdwick sheep typify the Lakeland. If they and their shepherds go, that is the end of the Lakeland where I have climbed, walked, skied and skated for nearly 80 years; of the Lakeland I have written about nearly all my life.^[13]

The destruction of entire flocks meant that the shepherds were forced to undergo the process of again heafing (the local term for hefting) their new sheep to the hills. Normally, ewes teach this behaviour to their lambs, but with no more ewes left acquainted with a particular heaf the behaviour had to be taught all over again to new ewes, inevitably involving much rounding up of flocks that had strayed over the often inaccessible fells. Unheafed sheep might also cause overgrazing by wandering if they replaced the original Herdwicks.^[1][14] The Cumbria Hill Sheep Initiative was set up to "reassess the position and circumstances" in the aftermath of the disease; tough government restrictions in order to prevent another outbreak are still in place.^[15][16]

In 2008, an Oregon sheep farmer began importing semen from Herdwick rams into the United States to begin a breeding programme using artificial insemination and designed to bring the breed to the country for the first time.^[17] In 2013, Lakeland Herdwick meat received a Protected Designation of Origin from the European Union.^[18]