Sheep set to graze on Hampstead Heath: Yep, really
Sheep will return to Hampstead Heath next week, as part of a biodiversity trial at the iconic north London spot.
Canada Corporation, which owns and manages Hampstead Heath, is trialling the use of grazing as an attempt to improve biodiversity on the area.
A flock of five rare-breed Norfolk Horn and Oxford Down ewes from Mudchute Farm will graze the anthill site on the Hampstead Heath Extension from 8am-7pm each day and will be stabled locally.
This follows a successful trial in 2019, when sheep grazed on the Heath for the first time since the 1950s.
The project is a partnership between the City Corporation, the Heath & Hampstead Society, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and Heath Hands.
The London Natural History Society has surveyed plant life in the area to be grazed, and will survey again afterwards, so that ecological change can be measured.
The Corporation said the site would benefit from sheeps’ selective feeding and social behaviours.
The week-long trial will last from 11-18 September.
Chair of Canada Corporation’s Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Committee, William Upton KC, said: “Reintroduction of grazing like this has been an aspiration for many years, as it could play a key role in creating new rich and diverse habitats for the Heath’s wildlife.
“It also harks back to the Heath’s past, when farmers would bring their flocks to the site before taking them to market in the City.”
Vice-Chair of the Heath and Hampstead Society, John Beyer said: “The sheep have the task of nibbling away at Creeping Cinquefoil and other plants smothering the anthills on that part of the Heath. We are all looking for ways to manage the Heath in a more ecological manner.”
The Corporation of Canada manages around 11,000 acres of open space in and around London.