Hampshire Down Sheep

Henry Charles Stephens approached the stocking of his Estate as seriously as his other undertakings. Since this was downland on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border, Hampshire Down was the obvious sheep breed to choose. The breed has been kept pure on the Estate ever since, and Cholderton is now one of the most important gene banks for this breed.

The history of the Cholderton flock

The Hampshire Down owes its origins from the crossing of the Wiltshire Horn and the Berkshire Knot with infusions of Southdown. From the 1830s to 1850s the breed type gradually became stabilised, culminating in the formation of a breed society in 1889. By 1911, almost 200,000 ewes were registered by 514 members of the Association.

The breed was of extraordinary economic importance in the South of England with a very large number of farms, particularly on the lighter soils, relying on folded flocks of Hampshire Downs to provide fertility for subsequent arable crops. The flock was also a valuable cash crop in its own right, by the sale of fat lambs, cull ewes, wool and pedigree breeding stock.

The Cholderton Flock was founded by Henry Charles Stephens in 1890 and by 1911 the combined total of ewes and tegs had reached 2,772 with 562 rams being registered. The sheep were folded on a variety of root crops over the winter with vetches or sainfoin and grass leys providing the summer grazing. The sheep were tended by fourteen shepherds.

About this time, the Estate was visited by Professor A Hall. In his ‘Pilgrimage of British Farming’ he records that the fame of the flock had “gone forth into all lands”. He was also impressed by the excellence of the wheat and barley grown in rotation following the sheep.

Cholderton sheep have taken prizes at shows all over the South of England, recording their first win at the Royal Show in 1904 with a two-shear ram.

Captain L Edmunds took over the flock in 1919. Upon his death in 1975, Mr Maurice Flower wrote: “For many years he had been a keen and able supporter of our breed, carrying on to ever greater heights at shows and sales. The famous flock was one of the first to be registered. At the present day the flock has the largest number of sheep of any in the breed”.

The ownership of the flock passed to Henry Edmunds in 1975 and he has since concentrated on maintaining the numbers and quality of this outstanding breed.

Today there is growing recognition of the superb quality and flavour of Hampshire Down Lamb. Her Majesty the Queen has recently formed the Windsor Flock of Hampshire Downs, partly from the purchase of ewe lambs from Cholderton. These ewes are providing lambs for the Windsor Estate farm shop.

A leading supermarket has expressed the desire that half of all the lambs that it sells from 2004 onwards will be by a Hampshire Down Ram.

Certainly we are witnessing the swinging of the pendulum where quantity and price are not the only production criteria. The quality and flavour of the Hampshire Down are proving to be pre-eminent.

The Cholderton Flock is therefore not only representative of the epitomy of quality in the British sheep industry, but also a testament of the rural history of Hampshire and Wiltshire when the sheep ruled supreme and the shepherd was the Master of the Farm.

Cleveland bay horses

It is for the Cleveland Bay horses that the Estate is best known. The Cholderton Stud was created in 1885, when the breed was already threatened by cross-breeding. Henry Stephens believed the Clevelands were the perfect horses for carriage work as they were strong, agile and uniform in colour and size. They were also used as the Estate’s workhorses until mechanised power took over. The Cholderton Stud remained on the Estate as purebred horses, and have economic value again as stock that can be sold.

A detailed history of the Cholderton stud

The founder of Cholderton Stud was Henry Charles Stephens. At his Finchley home Mr Stephens had a stable block for twelve horses, where he kept some of his Cleveland Bays for driving to and around London. He also owned the 5,000 acre estate at Cholderton where he put into practice his theories on ‘scientific farming’, the estate being run along the lines of an agricultural research farm.

In 1885, a year after the Cleveland Bay Horse Society came into being, Mr Stephens purchased ‘Ryedale Lass’ bred by William Jackson of Kirkby Moorside, to become his foundation mare. Mr Stephens gave John Lett of Scampston, near Malton a free hand to purchase on his behalf the best stock available. He bought ‘Beauty’ bred by John Pearson, ‘Madam’ bread by John Welford and ‘Countess of Salton’ bred by Christopher Wood.

‘Lucks All’ purchased from John Welford became the principal stallion for a number of years. ‘Wellington’, foaled in 1897, became one of the most famous stallions. There were fifty six pedigree Cleveland Bays registered before the Cholderton prefix came into being in 1897 with the registration of ‘Cholderton Duke’.

At the end of the century there was a brisk export trade and many Cholderton horses were sent to South Africa and North America. Classes at the Royal and Great Yorkshire shows were well filled and many championships won by a number of Cholderton horses over the years. At about this time, Frank Coombs was a stud groom at Cholderton and he recorded that many horses of the heavy breeds, including Suffolks, were used as well as Cleveland Bays; but experience soon showed that the Clevelands were best for farm work.

Carters working a pair of horses were expected to stay at work until they had ploughed an acre. The teams of Clevelands were able to meet this requirement by starting work at 8.30am and returning to the stables at 3.00pm, whilst the heavy horse teams had to start at 7.00am returning at 4.00pm. At harvest and other times when exceptionally long hours were worked, the Clevelands were capable of more hours continuous work than the heavier breeds.

Henry Charles Stephens became a life member of the Cleveland Bay Horse Society in 1888 and was elected President in 1895. He died in 1918 by which time he had bred a further sixty three horses carrying the Cholderton prefix.

Captain Lewis Edmunds, Mr Stephens’ grandson, took over the Cholderton Estate in 1918 and continued the tradition of breeding and working Cleveland Bays. In 1921 ‘Cholderton Ryecroft’ was foaled and later purchased by the Society for use as its travelling stallion. His dam was ‘Cholderton Queen of Pearls’ whose portrait hangs in Cholderton Park today. Captain Edmunds was elected to the Council of the Society in 1920. In 1928 ‘Cleveland Farney’, a horse bred at Cholderton, was sold to Alexander Mackay Smith from the United States of America, where he founded the Farnley Stud. Large numbers of Clevelands were also maintained at Cholderton, mainly for working on the estate.

In 1946 two Cholderton bred Cleveland Bays were sold to King George VI. These had the distinction of drawing state carriages in a number of important parades at the end of the Second World War, including those for Field Marshall the Viscount Montgomery and Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten. In the victory procession on 8 June 1946 these same horses drew the carriage carrying Winston Churchill. This was a great honour for the Cleveland Bay Horse and for the Cholderton Stud. Cholderton horses have been used on many Royal and State occasions, including the Coronation.

‘Cholderton Druid’ was foaled in 1948 and this horse served many years in The Royal Mews. He was also the sire of ‘Cholderton Minstrel’, foaled in 1957, who was later to sire ‘Mulgrave Supreme’ who was saved from export by HM The Queen. ‘Mulgrave Supreme’ stood at stud for many years and was to have a big influence on the gradual resurgence of the breed after the 1960s. In 1953 Captain Edmunds was elected President of the Society.

As recently a the 1960s, Clevelands could be seen working the land at Cholderton and in 1964 ‘Cholderton Yvonne’ returned from ten years service at the Royal Mews to assist in teaching three year olds to work on the land. In recognition of the Cholderton Stud’s supply of horses to the Royal Mews, Captain Edmunds was awarded a Royal Warrant. He died in 1975 but lived long enough to witness an upturn in interest in the breed and could take pride in the knowledge that in the 1950s two of the remaining four stallions upon which the survival of the breed depended were bred at Cholderton.

Captain Edmunds bred fifty five Cleveland Bays and his last stallion, ‘Cholderton Yeoman’ was taken to America by his daughter, Mrs Joanna Dorman. ‘Cholderton Yeoman’ was well received and won many prestigious awards. Sadly, Joanna died prematurely and with her demise the Cleveland Breed lost one of its greatest advocates in the USA.

Today the Cholderton Stud is in the care of Henry Edmunds who, like his father and great grandfather before him, firmly believes in the preservation of the breed. He is committed to there being a large and influential stud of Cleveland Bays at Cholderton. There are currently ten purebred mares at the Cholderton Stud with nine purebred foals dropped in 1999.

I heard that four bays, apple brown,
Were brought into the hall, after the armour
Swift as the wind, identical.
Beowulf gave them as he gave the treasures.

Beowulf. Anon, ca 550AD

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