The Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) is one of the most popular native UK breeds for hand spinning and knitting. BFL fleece is incredibly soft and fine, and is a key component in many of the beautiful UK produced yarns that we stock here at flock. Here we take a look at the history and characteristics of this prolific British sheep breed.

History of the Blue Faced Leicester Breed

Nowadays, the Blue Faced Leicester breed has spread throughout the UK and even made it to Canada and the USA, but we can trace its history back to the 18th Century, in the Northern Pennines.

In medieval times, sheep were highly valued for both meat and wool, with England being the primary wool producer in western Europe. Long wool breeds were particularly popular because of the long staple length of their fleeces, which could be spun to produce cloth. Towards the end of the middle ages however, Spain developed the merino sheep, and took over as the main producer of wool in the region. Sheep in the UK were now mainly bred for meat, and the longwool varieties that had been favoured for their fleeces didn’t tend to produce a great quantity of it.

In the 1700s, a farmer called Robert Bakewell from Dishley in Leicestershire experimented with a breeding technique called ‘Artificial Selection’. Bakewell was trying to address the low meat production of the long wool sheep, and he was so successful that Charles Darwin cited his work in his On the Origin of Species, some fifty years later. By breeding from Teeswater, Old Leicester Longwool and possibly Old Ryeland sheep, Bakewell was able to create an ‘Improved Dishley Leicester’ (also known as a Hexham Leicester). He lent his rams out to anybody that could pay, and as a result the breed spread incredibly quickly, and was used to improve many other sheep breeds as well as creating new ones.

The BFL that we know today came into being somewhere in the late 1980s to the early 1900s, and was developed as a ‘crossing breed’, meaning that its job is to produce high quality crossbreed ewes from the native hill-bred ewes. Today BFL rams produce the majority of commercial ewes in the UK, and the breed has a significant economic importance.

Characteristics of Blue Faced Leicester Sheep

BFL sheep are strongly built, with a long neck. They have a broad muzzle and a Roman nose, and their ears are long. They have no wool on their head, neck or belly. BFLs are bright and alert and the dark blue skin that gives them their name is visible through the white hair on their faces.

Blue Faced Leicester Fleece and Yarn

BFL wool is curly and lustrous, and is one of the softest of the UK clip. It is highly sought after by hand spinners and knitters, because its fineness make it soft and silky to handle. It produces strong and smooth fabric with an excellent drape.

The staple length of BFL fleece is 3-6 inches and the staples form long, curly locks. It is kemp free, and the micron count is 28-24 microns.

The majority of BFL fleece is white, although some sheep may produce mixed black and white, solid black or brown wool.

BFL wool features in many of the hand knitting yarns that we stock, lending a wonderful softness and drape. It is combined with Masham in By Laxton’s Sheepsoft and Erika Knight Wool Local, and with Masham and Merino in Baa Ram Ewe Woodnote DK. In Glencroft Clapdale DK, it’s included along with other local Yorkshire breeds including Dalesbred, North of England Mule and Texel. We also stock Herd DK, which is a luxurious pure BFL yarn in four natural colours.

Shop Our Range of BFL Yarns