Places you can see lambs

Four spring lambs frolicking on a grassy slope with a folly behind — Spring lambs bouncing in the park at Stowe Gardens, Buckinghamshire | © National Trust Images/David Humphries

Lambs are one of the first and most popular signs of spring in the UK. Find out where you can see them at the places we look after and learn about the various breeds.

Borrowdale and Derwent Water, Cumbria: Borrowdale has a long history of hefted sheep, kept on traditional farmland and allowed to roam the landscape freely. Look out for flocks of Herdwicks, the breed once raised by Beatrix Potter. Please keep dogs on a short lead at all times to protect the lambs.Visit Borrowdale and Derwent Water
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire: Calke Abbey is home to a small flock of rare Portland sheep. The lambs are born with a foxy-red coat, which changes to a creamy-white during the first few months. They are born at Home Farm on the estate and cared for by the ranger team, then moved into the Walled Kitchen Garden.Visit Calke Abbey
Charlecote Park, Warwickshire: Rare Jacob sheep are a long-established part of the parkland at Charlecote. They were first introduced to pastures surrounding the lake to help manage the grassland habitats. Keep an eye out for the lambs from mid-April.Visit Charlecote Park
Chirk Castle, Wrexham: Chirk is a working estate, with tenants farming the land. During spring, you'll spot lambs leaping around as the flocks graze the parkland, helping to maintain the natural habitat for other wildlife species.Visit Chirk Castle
Crom, County Fermanagh: Flocks of sheep graze the land at Crom, so each spring there are plenty of new lambs to see. They're looked after by tenant farmers, who check on them regularly during lambing season.Visit Crom
Downhill Demesne, County Londonderry: If you’re taking a stroll across the Downhill Demesne estate, keep a look out for the sheep and lambs that live here. These hardy grazers can cope in all weathers and are ideally suited to this exposed site.Visit Downhill Demesne
Erddig, Wrexham: For more than 300 years, the parkland here has been open for visitors to explore. A wildlife haven, the meadows offer a rich food source for sheep. Come and see them with their lambs in spring.Visit Erddig

Two lambs with black faces looking at the camera — LLanwenog lambs at LLanerchaeron, Wales | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Eskdale and Duddon Valley, Cumbria: Eskdale and Duddon Valley is a great backdrop for photographing lambs at play. Amble along the River Esk and spot the traditional Herdwick sheep grazing with their young. Please keep dogs on a short lead to protect the lambs.Visit Eskdale and Duddon Valley
Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk: Take a spring stroll around the estate at Felbrigg and see flocks of ewes and their lambs grazing in the parkland. You might even catch one of the Lambing Open Days at the estate's farm, which is run by tenant farmers.Visit Felbrigg Hall
Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire: Look out for the sheep and their newborn lambs outside Swanley Grange, and discover the Abbey’s historic connections to the wool trade. You can also explore the granges (monastic farms) and try your hand at some spring activities.Visit Fountains Abbey
Gibside, Tyne & Wear: Cut Thorn Farm is a working farm on the Gibside Estate that cares for the cattle and sheep visitors can see in Park Fields near the Avenue. Walking along the Valley Views trail in spring is a good way to see lambs as they frolic around.Visit Gibside
Greys Court, Oxfordshire: Head to Greys Court to see the newborn lambs – just one of the many signs of spring to look out for. You can also take in swathes of bluebells around the estate and apple blossom in the Walled Garden.Visit Greys Court
Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire: The parkland at Hanbury Hall is home to many sheep, so there are plenty of lambs to see throughout the spring. Watch them jump and frolic as you walk around the estate, but please keep dogs on a lead to protect the animals.Visit Hanbury Hall
Ickworth, Suffolk: With miles of parkland and woodland to explore, Ickworth is a great place to spend a spring day. Around 2,000 lambs are born here each year. Watch them discover their new home as you stroll around.Visit Ickworth

Lambs on hay at Home Farm, Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire — Lambs resting at Home Farm, Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire | © National Trust Images/Mike Selby

Kingston Lacy, Dorset: Kingston Lacy's lambing season will be in full swing throughout April. Join a free drop-in session on selected dates to see the lambs, meet the Farm Manager and learn more about this rare breed of Portland sheep.Visit Kingston Lacy
Llanerchaeron, Ceredigon: Llanerchaeron has remained unaltered for more than 200 years. This self-sufficient estate includes a working farm, where Llanwenog lambs are born from mid-March onwards. See the Welsh black cattle, geese and rare pigs too.Visit Llanerchaeron
Shugborough Estate, Staffordshire: A flock of Southdown sheep live at Shugborough, and are lambed in the visitor farmyard every year. There are lots of newborns in spring – come and see them take their first steps. From 12–27 April, the team will be giving talks on lambing.Visit Shugborough
Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire: The fields leading up to the manor at Snowshill are the nursery for the Clun Forest lambs, which are owned by a tenant shepherd. Visit the estate and see the newborns at play, as well as spring flowers in the garden and blossom in the orchards.Visit Snowshill Manor
Stowe, Buckinghamshire: At Stowe, the resident sheep and cows keep the grass growth under control and help recreate the historic views that this place is famous for. Visit in the spring for a chance to see the newborn lambs settling in.Visit Stowe
Wallington, Northumberland: The newborn lambs at Wallington are cared for on Prior Hall Farm, which runs alongside the East woods. You can see them skipping about the field when you take the cart road down to the garden, and from the cycle trail and estate walks.Visit Wallington
Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire: Head down to Home Farm on the Wimpole Estate for lambing season – from Saturday 20 April to Sunday 6 May (TBC). The farm is home to 280 ewes from seven rare breeds, and each year they give birth to several hundred lambs, which you can see in the parkland.Visit Wimpole

The types of sheep we look after

Learn about different types of sheep that you can find at some of the places in our care.

Herdwick

Herdwick sheep originate in the Lake District, which is where Beatrix Potter – renowned children's author and conservationist – reared an award-winning flock of them. The lambs are born with white or grey faces and black wool that turns blue-grey as they age. Only the rams have horns. Two-thirds of all breeding female Herdwicks are thought to currently live on National Trust land.

Hebridean

Hebrideans have black faces and legs, along with large, heavily ridged horns that curve up and then back and outwards. Some are multi-horned and can grow four, or sometimes even six, horns. Their fleece is mainly black, but can fade to brown in the sunlight, or turn grey with age. Hebrideans were the main breed of sheep in the Western Isles and Highlands of Scotland until the end of the 18th century, and you can see them today at Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire.

Image shows a Portland ewe and lamb in the grass in the walled Kitchen Garden at Calke — Portlands in the Walled Kitchen Garden at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire | © National Trust Images/Gillian Day

Portland sheep

Portland lambs are born with a russet-red wool, and both ewes and rams have horns. They're hardy sheep and were originally bred on the Isle of Portland. They have always been a rare breed, though you can see Portland lambs and sheep at Calke Abbey in Derbyshire. Kingston Lacy has one of the largest, if not the largest, flock of Portlands in the UK.

Manx loaghtan

The Manx loaghtan (pronounced ‘lock-tun’) is a small, primitive rare breed. They’ve been roaming the Isle of Man for more than 1,000 years and have brown fleeces and faces. Both the rams and ewes have horns – sometimes two, but they are often multi-horned. In the 1950s, they nearly became extinct; at one point, only 43 remained. They have since been rescued, but remain ‘at risk’, with fewer than 1,500 breeding females left.

Norfolk horn

Norfolk horn have distinctive black faces and horns. They're one of the oldest breeds in Britain, and are believed to have descended from the ancient Saxon black-faced sheep. By the late 1960s, they were almost extinct, but numbers have risen considerably since the 1970s. Today you can see the Norfolk horn mainly in Norfolk and Suffolk and at places such as Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire.

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