Chickens
| Ancobar | Buffbar | Cambar |
| Dorbar | Exmoor | Golden Essex |
| Hampbar | Bantam Ixworth | Kent Fowl |
| Black Marsh Daisy | White Marsh Daisy | White Surrey |
| Cuckoo Sussex | York Fowl | Yorkshire Hornet |
Pigs
| Black Essex | Black Suffolk | Cumberland |
| Dorset Gold Tip | Essex | Large White Ulster |
| Lincolnshire Curly Coat | Manx Purr | Old English |
| Small Black | Small White | Wessex Saddleback |
| White Leicester | White Suffolk | Yorkshire Blue and White |
Goats
| Welsh |
Sheep
| Anglesey | Bampton Nott | Berkshire Knot |
| Cadzow Improver | Cannock Chase | Devon Longwoolled |
| Keerie | Kent Halfbred | Limestone |
| Long Mynd | Morfe Common | Pembroke Hill |
| Pink-nosed Somerset | Prolific | Rhiw Hill |
| South Devon | Southam Nott | Sussex |
| Tanface | Welsh Tanface | Yorkshire Halfbreed |
Cattle
| Angus Doddie | Buchan Humlie | Castle Martin |
| Cornish | Dewsland | Five Horned |
| Glamorgan | Holderness | Lord Caernarvon’s breed |
| Montgomeryshire | Norfolk Horned | North Wales Black |
| Old Marlborough Red | Orkney | Polled Derby |
| Sheeted Somerset | South Black Wales | Suffolk Polled |
| Teeswater |
Horses & Ponies
| Barra Pony | Cushendale | Devon Pack Horse |
| Galloway Pony | Gocan | Goonhilly |
| Great Horse | Hebridean Pony | Long Mynd |
| Manx | Tiree | Vardy |
| Yorkshire Coach Horse |
Chickens
Golden Essex
Created by FN Sorrell from Essex and recreated in 2008.
The breed was created in the following way:
Croad Langshan Cock X Rhode Island Red pullets
Barnvelder Cock X Cross breeds from the previous crossing
Essex.
Further selection is needed for utility merit and to ensure all birds have lacing, similar to the Gold Laced Wyandotte
Origin: Essex
Class: Heavy, soft feather
Colour: Gold with black lacing and a black tail.
Comb: Single.
Eggs: Brown
Weight, male: 3.7kg
Weight, female: ?
White Surrey
The White Surrey was created in Hampshire by J H Smith primarily as a table bird. Classed as a heavy bird, the official makeup of the breed is unlikely to have been disclosed. It would appear to have been created from crosses using any or all of the following breeds.
White Wyandotte (necessary for the rose comb)
White Orpington (Varying opinion dependant on source of information. Probably the least likely to have been used)
White or Light Sussex (Sussex X Wyandotte was a useful crossbreed early in the 20th century)
Indian Game (perhaps played a small part. The tail in existing photos and the broad body are suggestive)
The bird had pure white feathering throughout with white skin and a red face and earlobes, white beak and legs, red or bright orange eyes and four toes.
Origin: Great Britain
Class: Heavy, soft feather
Colour: White
Comb: Medium sized Rose with leader following the contour of the neck.
Eggs: Tinted
Weight, male: 4.5kg/10lb
Weight, female: 3.6kg/8lb
Yorkshire Hornet
Became extinct around 1970Origin: Unknown, created 1850 or earlier?
Class: Light, soft feather, crested
Colour: Gold spangled
Comb: ?
Eggs: ?
Weight, male: 2.7 - 3.6kg
Weight, female: ?
Pigs
Extinct pig breeds
In the past there were many localised breeds of pig existing in their own counties across Great Britain. Most were not standardised and many became amalgamated with certain more prolific breeds. Most of these extinct breeds have little reliable recorded history and are not included below. The extinct breeds included on this page include some of the more well known natives. Some of these were used in the creation of the breeds we associate as traditional British breeds today.
Cumberland
The Cumberland pig was once common in Durham, parts of Lancashire and the old counties of Cumberland and Westmorland. The year of creation, if indeed there was a precise year, is unknown. However, the Cumberland was certainly a very old breed. The Cumberland Pig Breeders’ Association and Herd book were not established until 1916. The Cumberland was considered an early maturing pig with smooth skin and a thin covering of fine hair. The head and jowl were heavy, which are now undesirable features of a pork or bacon pig. The muzzle was upturned and the face was very short. Suggesting the introduction of Chinese blood, which had commonly been the case since the 18th century. The Cumberland was recognised to be a docile breed and a prolific breeder. The sows were good mothers and excellent milkers and the breed was fatty in constitution and fattened readily. The last boar was registered at around 1955, the last sow in 1960.
Origin: Northern England and the border of Scotland
Class: Lop eared, long bodied, early maturing, dual purpose. Crosses used for bacon
Colour: White
Parentage: Unknown
Dorset Gold Tip
Only one boar remained in 1955.
Origin: Dorset
Class: Semi-lop-eared
Colour: Red, like a Tamworth with black markings and golden tips to hairs.
Parentage: Tamworth probably crossed with Berkshire and Gloucestershire Old Spot
Essex
The Essex pig originates from the county of Essex and is descended from the forest pig that was once found across Essex, Hertfordshire and the southern Midlands. The pig had maintained much of the characteristics and colour of the original forest hog. To be precise, the Essex pig was correctly known as the White shouldered Essex Pig and despite its appearance was not classed a Saddleback. The Essex pig was predominantly black with a wide white belt encircling the shoulders and front legs. The hind legs were white up to the hocks and the muzzle and tip of the tail were also white. Ears were medium length and carried forward but not lopped. The snout was medium length, the muzzle was not upturned.
Sows make reliable mothers and could live to 10 or 11 years, producing an average of 8 piglets per litter. Due to their forest hog ancestry they were hardy animals and good foragers.
The Essex was an early maturing breed suited to both bacon and pork production. Small in bone and offal, when butchered there was no more that 25% waste.
The Essex pig went into decline in the 1960’s and now only exists as a few bloodlines maintained within the British Saddleback breed.
The Essex does not exist as a distinct breed any longer but The Essex Pig Society that was originally established in 1918 was re-established in 1997. Visit www.essexpigsociety.com to learn more.
The Essex Half-Black and The Improved Essex pig breeds
The Essex Half-Black was created by Mr Western, later Lord Western of Felix Hall, Essex. The breed was created sometime at the beginning of the 19th century using Neopolitan he had sourced from a trip to Italy. Mr Western brought back one male and one female Neopolitan and bred these in and in and then later crossed with his local Essex sows. The resulting crosses were later called the Essex Half-Black. They were black at one end and white at the other, with prick ears and a long tapering nose. The breed was early maturing and fattened readily. The Essex Half-Black was then later improved when further crossed with Essex Sows by Mr Fisher Hobbs, one of Mr Western’s tenants. The resulting pig later became known by 1840 as the Improved Essex. They were small, black, fast growing and early maturing. Ears were small to medium sized and pointed forward and the snout was tapered. The improved Essex was latter influencial in the creation of the small Black Suffolk breed that later amalgamated into the Large Black breed.
Origin: Essex, England
Class: Long bodied, early maturing, dual-purpose
Colour: Black and white
Parentage: Wild to semi-wild forest pig of Essex and Hertfordshire.
Large White Ulster
The Large White Ulster is likely to have existed in Northern Ireland since at least the 1880’s and was very similar in appearance to the Large White, aka Yorkshire. The Ulster matured earlier than the Large White, but bruised easily when handled or travelled. The Ulster had a long level back with very deep sides and the skin had a fine, silky layer of hair.
The Large White Ulster Pig Society formed in 1908. The last boar was registered in 1956.
Origin: Northern Ireland
Class: Lop-eared, Long bodied, late maturing, bacon
Colour: White
Parentage: Unknown, although the Cumberland, Welsh and Long White Lop-eared breeds may have been involved.
Wessex Saddleback
The Wessex was created around 1850 by crossing the Hampshire and Sussex breeds. The Hampshire breed was black or dark spotted and roamed semi-wild in the New Forest. The Sussex had a wide white band covering the entire middle section of the pig. The head and hams were black although sometimes the fore-end would be white and the rear end black or visa-versa. The resulting Wessex Saddleback had a fairly long straight snout with a slightly dished face and medium sized, forward pointing ears. The back was long and straight and the tail was long and stout with a long tassel of black hair. Although highly regarded for its bacon and for its value crossed with the Large White, the Wessex also made a good porker when young. In 1954 the Wessex was the second most popular pig in Great Britain after the Large White. Disappointingly the Wessex like the Essex fell out of favour in the 1960 and was amalgamated with the Essex 1967 to create the British Saddleback. The Swedish Landrace was introduced in 1949 and later became known in Great Britain as the British Landrace. The Landrace is a prolific breeder and very rapidly produces a long lean white carcass. These superior qualities are partly to blame for the downfall of the Wessex and other breeds since the 1960’s. Currently, the Large White, British landrace, Duroc and the various crosses of these breeds have dominated the pork and bacon industry.
The Wessex Saddleback Pig Society was formed in 1918. The society later amalgamated with the National Pig Breeders association.
Origin: Southern England. No precise origin although could include counties such as Hampshire, Sussex, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Dorset
Class: Long bodied, early maturing, dual-purpose
Colour: Black, with narrow white band encircling shoulders and front legs.
Parentage: Hampshire and Sussex breeds
Horses
Yorkshire Coach Horse
The Yorkshire Coach Horse had existed since at least the 1830’s. In the first instance the Yorkshire is believed to have been created by crossing large Cleveland mares with large-sized Thoroughbred Stallions. The resulting Yorkshire Coach-Horse was bay or brown with black legs, mane and tail. The breed was similar in appearance to the Cleveland but was taller with a more refined head and more developed crest. The great stamina shown by these Horses is what made them well known. They could carry a man’s weight and more, over distances of up to 18 miles within an hour.
The Yorkshire Coach-Horse stud book was established in 1887.
Origin: Yorkshire, Northern England
Class: Riding and driving
Colour: Bay or Brown, with black
Height at maturity: 160 – 165cms ( 16 – 16.2hh )
Parentage: Cleveland Bay, Thoroughbreds
