Sheep's Milk Wensleydale

When the French Cistercian monks first settled in Wensleydale they were given a free-hold parcel of land, which today is known as 'Abbotside'. This land is predominantly a heather moor and is still common land on which local farmers have the right to graze their sheep.

From 1100 until the introduction of the Enclosures Act, both sheep and mountain goats were the milking animals. During the summer months they produced a surplus and the monks converted this milk into cheese. In the 1700's, cows became the main milk producers, living in the base of the Dale whilst the sheep grazed the upland slopes and moors.

Here at Wensleydale Creamery we have travelled back in time and now produce a Wensleydale from pure sheeps milk

Ewes milk is rich, high in nutritional value and makes a cheese with special and important features.

The protein in cheese made from ewes milk is easily digested, especially by infants and the elderly.