The Dorset Down is a breed of sheep native to the Dorset Downs

Dorset Downs

The Dorset Downs are an area of Chalk downland in the centre of the county Dorset in south west England. The downs are the most western part of a larger Chalk Formation which also includes Cranborne Chase, Salisbury Plain, Hampshire Downs, Chiltern Hills, North Downs and South Downs.The Dorset...

 region of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It originated in the early 19th century from crosses of local and Hampshire

Hampshire sheep

The Hampshire or Hampshire Down is a breed of sheep which originated around 1829 from a cross of Southdowns with the Old Hampshire breed, the Wiltshire Horn, and the Berkshire Nott, all horned, white-faced sheep — these were native to the open, untilled, hilly stretch of land known as the Hampshire...

 ewes with Southdown

Southdown (sheep)

The Southdown is a small, dual purpose British sheep but is raised primarily for meat. The Southdown breed was originally bred by John Ellman of Glynde, near Lewes, East Sussex about 200 years ago. His work was continued by Jonas Webb of Babraham in Cambridgeshire who developed the larger animal...

 rams. The breed is not closely related to the Dorset

Dorset (sheep)

The Dorset or Dorset Horned breed of sheep is known mostly for its prolific lambing. It has been known to produce two lambing seasons per year: bred in May for lambs finished by the holidays, and bred again immediately after the first lambing to produce again in March or April...

 (aka Dorset Horned), which is a white-faced sheep.

Dorset Downs are medium-sized, robust sheep with dark faces and short wool. Prior to the importation of Continental breeds like the Texel

Texel (sheep)

The Texel is a breed of domestic sheep originally from the island of Texel in the Netherlands. It is now a popular lean meat sheep in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay and Europe. The Texel is a heavily muscled sheep. It produces a lean meat carcass and will pass on this quality to crossbred...

, the Dorset Down was a popular terminal sire breed in the United Kingdom. Today it is listed as a minority breed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust

Rare Breeds Survival Trust

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity, whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the United Kingdom’s native farm animal genetic resources...

. It was also exported to North and South America, New Zealand and Australia, but remains fairly rare in those countries as well.