Commoners’ livestock
The Commoners’ sheep and cattle are out in the permanent enclosure on the South Chase.
Conservators’ livestock
The Conservators own herds of Hebridean Sheep, Riggit Galloway Cattle and Exmoor ponies. The Ashdown Forest Act 1974 permits us to enclose an additional 50ha (on top of the 540ha in the South Chase) at any one time, which we use to graze different areas of the Forest. This fencing is moved from year to year to enable us to appropriately manage particular areas.
As of 16th June, the Conservators’ livestock is located in the following temporary enclosures:
The Rangers have moved ten of the Conservators’ Exmoor ponies and eight cows into a new temporary grazing enclosure (named ‘Eeyores’) just across the road from Gills Lap car park. Sheep will join them soon.
A flock of our Hebridean sheep are currently in an electric-fenced enclosure at ‘The Enchanted Place’ near Gills Lap. The sheep join a number of Exmoor ponies which are in a separate but neighbouring enclosure. There is a path between the two enclosures, which maintains public access down to the Heffalump Trap. We recommend keeping dogs on leads until you get past the electric fence, so you become familiar with the location of the boundaries of the enclosures.
As always, please keep dogs under close control at all times. For more information on dog walking and our Code of Conduct.