Meat
Cheviot
B tier
Cheviot sheep take their name from the Cheviot Hills on the England–Scotland border: alert white-faced hill sheep with a distinctive dense fleece and a reputation for thriving on rough grazing. North Country and South Country types differ slightly in size, but both produce active lambs with good conformation for hill systems. Cheviot lamb carries a brighter, more herbaceous flavour than lowland grain-finished stock—excellent for roast shoulder, navarin, and slow-cooked shanks. Fat is typically firm and white; legs can be leaner, so many producers cross with terminal sires when supermarket specification demands heavier muscling.
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
Grading systems
Grades are placed along a shared scale so systems can be compared side by side.
History
Records note white hill sheep on the Cheviot range already distinct from blackfaced stocks.
Sir John Sinclair and Border breeders promoted improved Cheviots for northern hill farms.
Flock books separated Cheviot breeding lines as the breed spread through Scotland and northern England.
Cheviot imports supported specialty hill-flock and purebred programmes in North America.