Lord Bristol’s Suffolk Sheep Society gold medal
Frederick Elkington (1826 - 1905)
Category
Coins and medals
Date
1902
Materials
Gold
Measurements
2 mm (Width); 63 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 852840
Summary
Medal, gold; The Suffolk Sheep Society medal; Elkington & Co., London; 1902. This extra-large version of the Suffolk Sheep Society Medal was presented to Frederick William Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol (1834-1907) to mark his 25 years service as the first President of the Suffolk Sheep Society, established in 1886. The Suffolk sheep, long valued for its fast growth and the quality of its meat, was first formally recognized as a distinct breed in 1859. The breed, today found all over the world, remains the leading breed of sheep in Britain and Ireland. The 3rd Marquess of Bristol was an enthusiastic supporter of the Suffolk Sheep Society and active as a breeder on his estates around Ickworth. He won numerous medals at shows. The Suffolk Sheep Society continues to flourish to this day.
Full description
A gold medal commemorating the presidency of the Suffolk Sheep Society’s first President, Frederick William Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol (1834-1907). On the obverse is a castellated gatehouse with twin towers and a central entrance with portcullis. The towers have domed roofs from which fly flags. Above the gate is an heraldic lion rampant. On the reverse is a fully-fleeced sheep standing on a sward of grass. An exceptional example in gold of a medal that is more commonly found in silver and lacking an inscription, so smaller in size. There are no fewer than eight examples of the silver medal at Ickworth (NT 849220.1-8). The medal was created for the Suffolk Sheep Society, founded in 1886, and used by the Society over many decades for prizes at agricultural shows. One of Britain’s oldest domestic breeds, the roots of the Suffolk sheep breed go back to the late eighteenth century. They were first mentioned in print in 1797, in Arthur Young’s 'General view of agriculture in the county of Suffolk', when the breed was still called Norfolk. Young however wrote that ‘as the most famous flocks are about Bury (much more celebrated than any in Norfolk), it has been observed that they ought rather to be called the Suffolk breed. This race is so well-known, that it would be useless to give a particular description of them; it is, however, proper here, to note their principal excellencies and defects. Among the former is the quality of the mutton, it being admitted at Smithfield that [...] it has for the table of the curious, no superior in texture or grain, flavour, quantity and colour of gravy, with fat enough for such tables. In tallow, they reckon no sheep better.’ (Young 1797, pp. 209-10). Young went on to praise the breed’s wool, its hardiness and the ewes’ attentiveness to their young, before listing some of his criticisms, including their ‘voracity’ and ‘a restless and unquiet disposition.’ The Suffolk breed evolved from the mating of Norfolk Horn ewes with Southdown rams in the Bury St Edmunds area. These sheep were at first known as Southdown Norfolks or around Bury as “Black faces”, in reference to the black fur on the animal’s head and legs. The breed developed around the rotational system of farming in East Anglia, so that in the summer the sheep would graze on grass or clover whilst, after weaning, the ewes could be put on salt marshes or stubble fields. In the winter the sheep Swedes were grazed on turnips or mangels, with a fresh area of the field fenced off each day. Lambing would take place in February or March, outdoors in the fields with a hurdle shelter or in open yards surrounded by hurdles and straw. Since the establishment of the Suffolk Sheep Society, the breed expanded rapidly, firstly through Britain and Ireland and subsequently across the world. The Suffolk remains to this day the flag-ship breed in the UK and Ireland and the leading domestic terminal sire breed (i.e. the ram’s progeny is bred exclusively for fatting and slaughter). The Suffolk’s rapid growth means that Suffolk lambs are ready for market earlier or can be more quickly fattened to produce heavier carcase weights. The breed was first formally given the name ‘Suffolk’ in 1859, when the Suffolk Show that year ran the first classes to exhibit Suffolk sheep. In 1886 the Suffolk Sheep Society was formed, with the 3rd Marquess of Bristol as its first President. The Society published its first flock book in 1887. This listed 46 flocks, most of them in Suffolk but a few in other parts of East Anglia, ranging in size from 50 to 1,100 ewes with an average number of 314. Lord Bristol’s ‘Tuddenham Flock’, established in 1872 and consisting in 1887 of 300 ewes and 7 rams, was the first to be listed in the stock book. Lord Bristol was an enthusiastic promoter of the breed, winning several prizes at the Smithfield agricultural show in London, for which he received silver medals of the Smithfield Club (NT 849222.1-4). Lord Bristol also won gold and silver medals at the agricultural show attached to the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris (NT 849226 and 849223). In an article in 1885 in the Bury and Norwich Post (‘The Suffolk Sheep’, 25 August 1885), the 3rd Marquess was praised for his support for the breed: ‘Many of our landowners have freely patronised Suffolk sheep. The Marquis of Bristol especially has taken great interest in them. His Lordship’s ewes obtained first honours at the recent show of the Bath and West of England Society in Brighton, while he has been very successful at the exhibitions of the Smithfield Club and county shows.’ The article, by ‘Ovis’, lauded the progress that had been made more generally by Suffolk farmers and breeders in developing county breeds of horses, cattle, sheep and pigs. Lord Bristol served as president of the Suffolk Sheep Society for no fewer than 25 years, until 1901. The medal was presented to him at a ceremony held in Ipswich on 23rd May 1902, together with a bound illuminated parchment recording the gratitude of the Society for his advocacy and active support for the Society since its foundation. The very beautiful illuminated address is also still at Ickworth (NT 851690). The Suffolk Sheep Society medals were made by the firm of Elkington and Co. A silver manufacturer established in Birmingham in the 1830s, Elkington is best-known for its leading role in the nineteenth-century revolution in electroplating and electrotyping, but also made objects, such as the Suffolk Sheep Society medals, using more conventional technologies. The obverse with its gatehouse appears to be heraldic but the precise source of the imagery has to be identified. Unlike other agricultural society medals, such as those of the Smithfield Club, in which winners’ names were engraved on the rim, Suffolk Sheep Society medals appear to have been presented without inscriptions. Although gold medals seem to have been presented quite frequently in the early years of the Society, no other examples are currently recorded. Jeremy Warren November 2025
Provenance
Presented to Frederick William Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol (1834-1907) in Ipswich, 23rd May 1902; by descent as part of the Bristol Collection. Acquired by the National Trust in 1956 under the auspices of the National Land Fund, later the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
Marks and inscriptions
Obverse: SUFFOLK. SHEEP. SOCIETY / INCORPORATED 1886 Around edge: PRESENTED TO / THE MOST HONOURABLE THE MARQUESS OF BRISTOL MAY 23RD 1902. Stamped, bottom centre: ’18 CT’ Reverse: Around edge: IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF SERVICES RENDERED AS A BREEDER AND EXHIBITOR OF SUFFOLK SHEEP AND AS PRESIDENT 1886-1901 Below sheep: ELKINGTON & CO LONDON Presented to Most Honble. Marquess of Bristol, May 23, 1902
Makers and roles
Frederick Elkington (1826 - 1905), metalworker
References
Young 1797: Arthur Young, ‘General view of agriculture in the county of Suffolk’, London 1797