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British White Cattle can claim links with the
ancient indigenous wild white cattle of the British Isles, notably
from the Lords Park at Whalley Abbey in Lancashire
bought by Richard Assheton in 1553. The Whalley
Abbey herd was dispersed in 1697 and the cattle driven to Cheshire
and other parts of Lancashire.
It is known that there was a herd at Middleton Park
in Lancashire and that some of these cattle were transferred to
Norfolk in 1765. In 1840 one of these cows was
purchased by Albemarle Cator of Woodbastwick in
Norfolk. There has been a substantial herd at Woodbastwick
ever since and the Cator family are credited with helping to keep
the breed in existence.
The number of cows dropped to 149 in the 1960's although dedicated
breeders have established new herds and numbers are now increasing.
Traditionally British White Cattle were a dual
purpose breed although there are now no dairy herds left and all
breeders concentrate on beef production. The first herdbook was
produced in 1919 and all British White Cattle can
be accurately traced back to this date.
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