Breeds of Darlington and the Shorthorn
The Tees valley country where the Colling brothers bred the Shorthorn, and where the first cattle herd book was compiled.
Breeds of this place
Best time: May to September.
The Shorthorn comes from the valley of the River Tees, around Darlington, where the old Teeswater and Durham cattle were large, red, white or roan. In the 1780s and 1790s, Charles and Robert Colling, farming at Ketton and Barmpton near Darlington, used Bakewell's methods to breed them into a heavier, earlier-maturing animal. The Shorthorn became the most widespread breed in Britain in the nineteenth century.
The Durham Ox
One of the Collings' animals, the Durham Ox, grew so large that from 1801 it was taken around England in a specially built carriage and shown to paying crowds. Prints of it hung in farmhouses and inns. In 1822 George Coates published the first herd book for any cattle breed, recording the pedigrees of Shorthorns. The idea was soon copied for other breeds.
The breed abroad
Shorthorns went to the United States, Argentina, Australia and many other countries, where they helped found new breeds such as the Santa Gertrudis and the Droughtmaster. Over time the breed split into beef and dairy types. Darlington is also known for the Stockton and Darlington Railway of 1825, the first public steam railway.
A trail idea for Darlington and the Shorthorn
- Darlington The market town on the Skerne, near the old Colling farms.
- Ketton The farm country north of the town where the Collings bred.
- North Road station The old railway station of the 1825 line, now a railway heritage site.
Written by the EveryCow desk with AI assistance. Background: "Darlington" on Wikipedia. Fair dates, markets and visiting rules change; check locally before travelling, and keep a respectful distance from working animals. If something is wrong, tell us.
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