New College's newest members!

New College has welcomed its newest members - a (small) flock of sheep. As a way of reducing our carbon footprint, the three sheep will help to keep the grass maintained, whilst also producing fleece which will be used to insulate parts of the roofing in Old Buildings.

The sheep will graze on the croquet lawn and the grass in the gardens, and arrived in their new home last week.

Currently, only two of the ewes have names with ‘Wilhelmina’ and ‘Wykeham’ being named by the staff of New College. The third member of the flock will be named by the JCR when they return after the Easter vacation.

Home Bursar, Gez Wells, commented:

'New College wants to be at the forefront of the sustainability agenda. The sheep will provide low-cost, low-energy cutting of the grass, as well as providing milk for our kitchen and fleece for insulation. Part of the garden has been fenced off whilst the ewes settle in to their life here, and we are currently training our Outreach Officer, Shelby Holmes, in the basics of shepherding, building on her experience in herding school students around the College. 

Next year, we hope to add a cow and a pig to the area and are actively exploring the possibility of becoming the first city farm in central Oxford. This is an important step towards making that dream a reality.'