The Suffolk originated in the area surrounding
Bury St. Edmunds in
Suffolk in the late eighteenth century, as a result of
cross-breeding when
Norfolk Horn ewes were put to improved
Southdown rams. They were at first known as Blackfaces or Southdown-Norfolks; the first use of the name "Suffolk" for these sheep dates to 1797. In 1810 it was recognised as distinct breed, but was not known by the present name until 1859. A
breed society, the English Suffolk Society, was formed in 1886; a
flock-book published in the following year recorded some ewes. By the end of the nineteenth century the Suffolk had displaced the
Oxford Down as the principal
terminal sire used on
cross-bred ewes in Scotland. By the 1980s breed numbers in the United Kingdom had risen to some head, but later fell; in 2020 a total population of was reported. The Suffolk has been exported to many countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States, and has become one of the most numerous sheep breeds in the world. It was introduced to the United States in 1888 by one G.B. Streeter of
Chazy, New York. A large and long-legged sub-type has developed there; it is fast-growing, but the
carcase is of lower quality. == Characteristics ==