Sheep shearing and wool production has been an important part of the UK's sheep industry over the last six thousand years. The earliest sheep had pigmented coats and moulted allowing farmers to collect the fallen wool but as time went on breeds developed with improved wool characteristics. By the middle ages wool was the UK's most important output, being exported throughout Europe. Later, as exports declined, production was used domestically in the fast growing cloth industries where technological advance fueled the industrial revolution and the move from an agrarian to urban society.

Wool is a modified form of hair that grows with a waviness (called the crimp) which is characteristic of the breed of sheep. Fleeces of British sheep can be classified into three main types: carpet wools, down wools and long wools each with differing end uses.

For many centuries wool was the UK's most important export and through the cloth trade led to the development of many of the nation's industrial towns. Today the UK remains an important producer (7th largest in the world) exporting around one third of the annual 60,000 tonne clip. However, with wool prices at about 50 pence per kilogram the value of the raw wool that is exported is little more than £10 million and for most farmers the value of the wool does not cover the cost of shearing.

Sheep are either sheared in the early summer months, or immediately prior to winter housing. Since sheep breeds no longer naturally moult, shearing is necessary to prevent the animal from overheating either when indoors, or outside during hot summer months. When shorn, sheep are also much less prone to fly strike.

Sheep are usually shorn on a wooden board that can easily be cleaned through the shearing process to avoid faecal contamination of the fleece. Fleeces can also be spoiled by marker paint, brambles and other contaminants - all of which lower the value.

The shorn fleece is carefully rolled and tied by its own wool before being placed in a woolsack. Please note that this picture is for illustration and that the wool would normally be rolled on a sheet and not upon the grass.

Indoor shearing with a woolsack supported by a frame for easier filling. Shearing is usually carried out by shearers from Australia and New Zealand who travel the world to shear sheep all year round. This "shearing circuit" is seen as a way to save money to start farming.

Woolsacks awaiting collection. The Lord Chancellor's woolsack in the House of Lords is similar to these and reflects the economic importance of wool through the ages.

Most wool in the UK is marketed through The British Wool Marketing Board which co-ordinates the collection and sale of wool from around 70,000 registered producers. Wool is graded, pooled and sold throughout the year at public auction, some of which are live online.

Wool is an extremely versatile product that lends itself to use in clothing and carpets. Wool is wear resistant, provides good insulative properties as well as being able to absorb up to 30% of its own weight in moisture without feeling wet. Despite these qualities wool, has been widely displaced by the use of cheaper synthetic fibres.

Woollen clothing with the charcteristic "Pure new wool" marque. Wool is now a premium product but for much of the last 6000 years it has been the mainstay of clothing in all grades and qualities.

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