Region: Wales
Slender/medium bodied coarse fleece with rustic colours
Average Fleece Weight: 1.5 - 2 KG
Average Staple Length: 3-4 Inches
Micron Range: 33 - 35
Recommended Craft Areas: Needle felting
Unique features: Fantastic heritage representation and rustic colouration with coarseness and grip which makes for excellent needle felting work and Welsh representation within that work
Believed to have been around since the 1st century, this is the oldest British sheep still surviving. It has been developed and tweaked through the years to suit the markets. A mountainous breed was bred into them throughout the middle ages to help them survive on the mountain sides of Wales. At the turn of the 17th century, the breed had developed its characteristic looks and became the ‘badgerface’.
The breed has two distinctive types of Badgerface and these are distinguished by their colouring. Torddu, which is Welsh for black belly, refers to the breed which has black stripes above their eyes and running from their chin to tail. They also have a lighter coloured fleece in comparison to the Torwen. The Torwen, meaning white belly, has the alternate colours to the Torddu.
Both fleeces are of a similar fibre structure, they are a coarse mountain fleece with lots of texture and colour. They are great for adding a natural colour to needle felting projects or weaved into peg loom rugs. They are still a popular fleece to spin with for the natural colours it provides.
Region: Wales
Slender/medium bodied coarse fleece with rustic colours
Average Fleece Weight: 1.5 - 2 KG
Average Staple Length: 3-4 Inches
Micron Range: 33 - 35
Recommended Craft Areas: Needle felting
Unique features: Fantastic heritage representation and rustic colouration with coarseness and grip which makes for excellent needle felting work and Welsh representation within that work
Believed to have been around since the 1st century, this is the oldest British sheep still surviving. It has been developed and tweaked through the years to suit the markets. A mountainous breed was bred into them throughout the middle ages to help them survive on the mountain sides of Wales. At the turn of the 17th century, the breed had developed its characteristic looks and became the ‘badgerface’.
The breed has two distinctive types of Badgerface and these are distinguished by their colouring. Torddu, which is Welsh for black belly, refers to the breed which has black stripes above their eyes and running from their chin to tail. They also have a lighter coloured fleece in comparison to the Torwen. The Torwen, meaning white belly, has the alternate colours to the Torddu.
Both fleeces are of a similar fibre structure, they are a coarse mountain fleece with lots of texture and colour. They are great for adding a natural colour to needle felting projects or weaved into peg loom rugs. They are still a popular fleece to spin with for the natural colours it provides.
