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Looms by Type. Ashford Louet Schacht. Once the largest known breed of sheep in the western hemisphere, Lincoln wool was quite popular for its luster and remarkably long staple length. With the majority of this breed raised just a short distance from the North Sea, the wool from these sheep were very important to early English exports of both wool and fabric. The origin of the Lincoln sheep almost certainly starts with the occupation of England by the Romans starting in early 40 AD.
Based on evidence from archeological digs, it has been fairly well established that the native sheep of England and the rest of northern Europe had short wool coats and short tails.
It is thought that these longwooled sheep brought by the Romans were the ancestors of the Lincoln and other longwool breeds in England. Centuries and generations of sheep later, the next surviving depiction of longwooled sheep appears in a psalter from the 14 th century. Commissioned by Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, the lord of Irnham in Lincolnshire, an illustration in the Luttrell Psalter clearly shows longwooled sheep being milked inside of an enclosure.
It is thought that this is the earliest depiction of Lincoln sheep, and along with other evidence has led some researchers to believe that Lincoln sheep that may have provided the foundation of all the current English longwool breeds. By the s, Lincolns were widely known across Europe as being the largest of all sheep breeds. In addition to their size, Lincolns also had a good, heavy fleece that was important to the wool and fabric trade.
