Return of the Native

Somerset is famous as a county of cider orchards, holiday beaches and historic stately homes. Less well-known is the area’s livestock heritage and its long-lost native breeds. Somerset Poll cattle, Pink-nosed Somerset sheep and the Mendip pony are on the list of extinct British breeds never to be seen again. But in the Chew Valley one living relic of the past is making a comeback; Sheeted Somerset cattle are beautiful red-brown animals which get their name from the breed’s distinctive white markings resembling a sheet draped over their backs. The last recorded herd, on the Broadlands Estate in Hampshire, was wiped out in the 1930s and the breed was declared extinct.

On his farm at Winford, livestock farmer Andrew Tanner is passionate about restoring the Sheeted Somerset to its former glory and has recreated it using the genetics of the same Dutch belted breed of cattle which were imported to the West Country via the Netherlands in the 1700s. The project raises interesting questions about extinction, genomics and breed revival. Andrew’s Sheeted Somersets are already making their mark at local agricultural shows and livestock markets while dairy farmers Paul and Rachel Candy are planning to increase their milking herd and create a Sheeted Somerset gelato.

Produced and presented by Vernon Harwood.