The Border Leicester is one of the British breeds of livestock the origins of which there are no doubts. They are the lineal descendants of the Dishley Leicesters bred and made famous by Robert Bakewell (1726-1795) of Dishley, Leicestershire.

Robert Bakewell followed on the work of arable pioneers Jethro Tull and Lord “Turnip” Townshend but it is in the field of livestock and especially sheep that Bakewell particularly excelled. At this time all sheep were run together, breeding at random resulting in many different breeds all with their own unique, but random characteristics. Bakewell segregated the sexes, allowed mating only to occur deliberately and specifically. He developed a system of breeding termed “in-and-in”, breeding animals of close relationship with each other or line breeding as it is known today. It is thought he started with the old Lincolnshire breed crossing them with the best of the local Leicestershire types and then by breeding “in-and-in” coupled with rigorous selection and culling was able to fix desirable characteristics for improved meat quality and production through pre-potency.

The Dishley blood found its way north to the Border Counties when in 1767 George & Mathew Culley settled in the Glendale district of Northumberland with some of Bakewells flock. They had both been students of Bakewell in 1763 and after travelling extensively settled as tenant farmers in Northumberland.

This resultant breed Bakewell called the “New Leicester” becoming known as the “Dishley Leicester”.

Bakewell established the Dishley Society to monopolise the breed. It’s members were bound by a set of rules designed to maintained the purity of the breed. On Bakewells death, 12 of his neighbours formed themselves into the Bakewell Club and bought up his sheep with the intention of maintaining them.

These improved Leicesters soon found themselves established on both sides of the Border as a result of the annual sale of both rams and ewes held by the brothers.
When these breeders wanted fresh blood they initially had recourse to the members of the Bakewell club who were hiring rams Although Bakewell started hiring his tups for the low price of 17s 6d in 1760, by the time his flock had matured and were portraying the pure qualities he (and other farmers) wanted, he was able to command 1200 Guineas (£1260 and the equivalent of £88,000 today) for the use of 3 rams and 2000 Guineas for the use of 7 others in 1789.

By this time there were two distinct types of “Dishley Leicester” evolving in the Borders. The Culley brothers were initially crossing these  sheep with the local Teeswater breed but other farmers on the border were crossing in some Cheviot blood. This led to the two variations nicknamed the “Bluecaps” and the “Redlegs”. The Border farmers preferred the hardier redlegs and by about 1850 this variation of the “Dishley Leicester” became known as the “BORDER LEICESTER”

The “Border Leicester” very quickly became popular and by the time “The Society of Border Leicester Sheep Breeders” was founded and the first flock book printed in 1898 the breed had spread as far north as Wick, Caithness and across to Ireland

Registered flocks are now found in all parts of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Sheep have been exported widely in the early years particularly to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. More recently to France, Spain, Portugal, Canada, USA, Colombia, British Guiana, India, Japan, Yugoslavia, Iran, Hungary, Russia, China, Turkey & Switzerland.
In Australia and New Zealand the breed at present is very strong - in Australia where the Border Leicester Merino cross female is the leading prime lamb mother, there are 990 registered Border Leicester breeders.