The 'Mergelland' sheep

For many centuries the steep, grassy slopes and forgotten corners of the southern Limburg countryside were grazed by flocks of sheep with a shepherd, known locally as a ‘scheper’. This practice, too, gradually vanished during the 20th century.

Eventually, the local ‘Mergel-land’ breed of sheep, named after the chalk grassland on which it fed, had all but disappeared. By means of a selective breeding programme based on information provided by the last shepherd and on old photographs, it proved possible to 're-create' a breed of sheep with all the typical features of the original variety. Today, several flocks are used for grazing some of the region’s chalk grassland nature reserves. home | back | back to the tour