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 to spot different breeds at many of the places we look after.

Arlington Court, Devon: Arlington Court has traditionally been home to Jacob sheep, but over the last few years we’ve been introducing new breeds. Pay a visit this spring and meet the latest flock of lambs.Visit Arlington Court
Borrowdale and Derwent Water, Cumbria: Borrowdale has a long history of hefted sheep, which roam the landscape. Look out for the flocks of Herdwicks, kept on traditional farmland by farm tenants. Beatrix Potter once raised this breed. If walking with dogs, please keep them 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 in the first few months.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 lambs frolicking in the fields from mid-April.Visit Charlecote Park
Chirk Castle, Wrexham: Chirk is still 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
Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire: During spring and summer, a flock of Hebridean sheep graze at Clumber Park. Come and see the sheep and their lambs, and discover how they help to shape the landscape.Visit Clumber Park
Crom, County Fermanagh: Flocks of sheep graze the landscape at Crom, so there’ll be plenty of new lambs to see in spring. They're looked after by tenant farmers, who check on them regularly during lambing season.Visit Crom

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

Downhill Demesne, County Londonderry: If you’re taking a stroll across the Downhill Demesne estate, keep a look out for sheep and lambs. 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 on your next visit.Visit Erddig
Eskdale and Duddon Valley, Cumbria: With its wide-open spaces and traditional farmsteads, 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 your dogs on a short lead to help protect pregnant ewes and 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.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. After spotting some woolly lambs, explore the monastic granges and try your hand at some spring activities.Visit Fountains Abbey
Greys Court, Oxfordshire: Come to Greys Court and see the newborn lambs – just one of the many signs of spring you can enjoy here, along with swathes of bluebells around the estate and apple blossom in the Walled Garden.Visit Greys Court
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

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

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
Llanerchaeron, Ceredigon: Llanerchaeron has remained unaltered for more than 200 years. This self-sufficient estate includes a working farm, where lambs are born from mid-March onwards. Don’t forget to say hello to the Welsh black cattle, geese and rare Welsh pigs too.Visit Llanerchaeron
Orford Ness, Suffolk: Orford Ness is home to a very important flock of sheep, whose grazing helps conserve the landscape and encourage ground-nesting bird habitats. The first lambs were born here in spring 2014. Every year more newborns take their first steps under the watchful eyes of Ranger Andrew Capell and his sheepdog Sweep.Visit Orford Ness
Shugborough Estate, Staffordshire: A flock of 40 Southdown sheep live at Shugborough, and are lambed in the visitor farmyard every year. There are lots of newborns in spring – why not come and see them?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 the 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 it's famous for. Visit in the spring for a chance to see the newborn lambs.Visit Stowe
Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire: Visit Wimpole in spring, when more than 250 rare-breed ewes give birth to several hundred new additions to the flock each year. You can watch the newborn lambs skipping, playing and exploring the farm.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.

Whitefaced woodland

This endangered species of sheep is found at places such as Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, Orford Ness in Suffolk and Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. The whitefaced woodland is England's largest hill breed, and can survive on harsh terrain. Both the ewes and rams can grow heavy spiralled horns.

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, which means they 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 places such as Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire.

Manx loaghtan

The Manx loaghtan (pronounced ‘lock-tun’) is a small, primitive rare breed of sheep. 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

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

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 black wool, turning blue-grey as they age and with white or grey faces. Only the rams have horns. Two-thirds of all breeding female Herdwicks are thought to currently live on National Trust land.

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 a hardy breed 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.

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