Shepherd and flock of Cheviot sheep in the 18th century English countryside .
ment had prevented the export of their sheep to protect their dominance in the wool and meat market .
In 1765 , King Carlos III of Spain presented a select flock of his rare sheep to the German Elector of Saxony , thus beginning the spread of Merino throughout the world .
At the turn of the 19th century , Merino sheep were introduced to North America and Australia . Now , Australia has the largest flock of Merino sheep in the world .
By the 1850s , Merino fibre had also become the mainstay of New Zealand ’ s agricultural industry ; the Merino population in New Zealand peaked around the turn of the 20th century , and now more than half of the sheep in New Zealand are Romneys derived from the British breed .
Research suggests that the first domestic sheep were introduced into Britain by Neolithic settlers around 4000 bc , and that these were probably horned brown sheep , similar to a breed called the Soay .
In the UK there are now more than 60 different pure breeds of sheep and many cross- , half- and rare breeds , more than any other country in the world .
England ’ s wool industry dates back more than 2000 years ; woolen cloth has been a prized export since Roman times . During the 12th century , wool became England ’ s greatest natural asset as a major source of revenue through exports of both woven cloth and raw wool .
England ’ s textile industry and the manufacturing of wool products grew during the 15th century , and it was the demands of this that both drove development and financed the Industrial Revolution , eventually leading to massive changes in manufacturing across the world . It was the dawn of a new dynamic age of prosperity … and it all started with wool . �
Wool weight with the Royal Arms of England , ca . 1550 – 1600 ; cast bronze . By the middle of the 16th century , England was a major European producer of woollen cloth , considered by many to be the finest available . Special decorative weights were used to weigh it . Wool weights were hung on a beam and counter-balanced with an equivalent weight of wool . Wool weights were made as 7 , 14 and 28 lb weights . Shield shaped wool weights survive from the reign of Henry VII ( 1485 – 1509 ) onwards . Photo by David Jackson , as part of Britain Loves Wikipedia .
At right center : Wool textiles were still hand woven on wooden looms in the mid-18th century , engraving by William Hogarth . At right : Beginning in the late 18th century , production of wool textiles in both Europe and America became increasingly industrialized , and by the late 19th century virtually all woolen textiles were woven on mechanized power looms , such as this model from the 1880s .
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