White Park

The white park is probably the most ancient breed of British native cattle. Similar cattle originated in the 5th century bc in Wales, Scotland, Northern England and Ireland and by the 13th century herds of wild white cattle were enclosed in parks and mainly used for hunting. In the early 1800s there were more than a dozen pure white park herds, but most had been exterminated by the turn of the century. By 1940 only the Dynevor, Woburn, Whipsnade and Cadzow herds survived as domestic herds, with the Chillingham and Vaynol as feral herds.

The white park are, as their name implies, white with black points (muzzle, ears, eyelids, feet and teats) occasionally calves are born with red points. The horns are large and sweeping upwards in the females and curved forwards in the male. They are hardy, thrifty and will breed well into their teens. They have good growth rates, producing a carcass that is large and lean. It was a loin of white park beef that was so enjoyed by James 1st that he knighted it, thus generating the word 'sir loin'.

There is a herd of around 15 breeding adults plus followers kept at Temple Newsam.

www.whitepark.org.uk

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