But this was not the end of the work of the Belmont flock's late E.B. Gray. The tradition was to be continued with the sheep of this heritage flock. Wanstead Park's English Leicester flock is a rare breed, indeed. Their ancestors not only provided with food, clothing and strings for the ancient Romans, but the sheep played a huge role in the development of the productive and vigorous breeds of sheep used today. In fact, when authentic sheep of the time were needed in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, some were provided from Tasmania's Belmont flock to form a shipment that was to travel to the other side of the world.

The English Leicester flock at Wanstead is run in conjunction with, but separate from the Merino flock, which is not all that difficult, as the two breeds largely keep to themselves. This is due to their temperaments being very much mismatched. The English Leicesters are un-mulesed and are shorn so that the staple length is 100 millimetres. The fleeces are skirted, all vegetable matter is removed by hand and the remaining fleece is then sent to be scoured and spun

On return to Tasmania, the wool is then presented for sale by Tasmanian Wool Suppliers as a premium Tasmanian product whose production history is fully documented. That is very rare in this day and age where maximum output and homogeneity are the only goals.

Wanstead Park was settled in 1823 by Richard Willis whose wife and family of 18 children flourished in the new colony of Van Diemen's Land. After the Willis family retired to Britain in the 1850s, the property was owned by Mrs Baird's family who, in 1989 invited her and her family to run and develop it.

The house and property are now being restored, and the English Leicester flock continue to play their part in preserving Tasmania's rich heritage of agriculture. The work of Robert Bakewell (1725-95) radically imroved livestock breeding and is now a constant reminder to Wanstead Park of the need to treasure our history whilst acting boldy to ensure improvement in everything we do in today's world.

The exclusive quality of Wanstead Park's 100% Semi Worsted natural undyed DK wool is evidence of our success.