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If you’re planning a picnic at one of London’s best-loved green spaces this weekend, watch out for unexpected farmyard creatures. Sheep are roaming Hampstead Heath, thanks to a conservation grazing scheme.
Adding a tad more biodiversity to London’s wonderful city farms and ecosystem of pesky pigeons and foxes, Hampstead Heath is currently borrowing five rare-bred Norfolk Horn and Oxford Down ewes. The sheep come courtesy of east London’s Mudchute City Farm, one of Europe’s biggest city farms, and you’ll be able to see them grazing from 8am to 7pm until Monday September 15.
Experts remind us that having these wooly mammals on the Heath is not just a wholesome gimmick, but an effective method of maintaining one of London’s most beloved green spaces. They will maintain habitats without the need for heavy, clunky machinery that is often both an eyesore and harmful to sensitive ecosystems.
Alderman and Sheriff Gregory Jones, chair of the City of London Corporation’s Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Committee, has commented saying the project will provide a ‘nod to Hampstead Heath’s rich heritage while providing real benefits for biodiversity.’
Members of the committee warn London’s dog owners (especially of sheepdogs) to keep their furry-friends leashed around the grazing area (on anthill site on the Heath’s Extension) to ‘ensure the safety and welfare of these animals’. We wouldn’t want to end up with a dog-on-sheep pursuit through the cobbled streets of Hampstead now, would we.
You can find out more about the project on the City of London website here.
The best London city farms, according to Time Out.
You can read our full guide on Hampstead Heath here.
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