page_title: Chillingham cattle
section_title: Other herds of white cattle
hierarchical_section_title: Chillingham cattle / Other herds of white cattle
caption_attribution_description: English: The very large (7 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches) wood engraving by Thomas Bewick of a Chillingham Bull, executed for Marmaduke Tunstall of Wycliffe, Yorkshire in 1789.
context_page_description: Chillingham cattle, also known as Chillingham wild cattle, are a breed of cattle that live in a large enclosed park at Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, England. In 2009 the cattle were described as "about 90 animals in Chillingham, which inhabit a very large park that has existed since the Middle Ages". The herd has remained remarkably genetically isolated for hundreds of years, surviving despite inbreeding depression due to the small population. There is also a small reserve herd of about 20 animals located on Crown Estate land near Fochabers, North East Scotland.
context_section_description: The first list of herds of park cattle was compiled by Thomas Bewick in his A General History of Quadrupeds of 1790; Chartley, Chillingham, Gisburne, Lyme Park and Wollaton. Cadzow (Chatelherault) was not included. There is much vagueness over the history of many, perhaps most, of these and of the other herds of white park type. The standard scholarly work is still  Whitehead's The Ancient White Cattle of Britain and their Descendants. In 1759 the Earl of Eglinton formed a herd of the ancient breed of white or Chillingham cattle at Ardrossan in North Ayrshire, Scotland, probably using stock from the Cadzow Castle herd. The numbers dropped and in 1820 the remaining animals were dispersed. All the animals in this herd were hornless.
caption: Wood engraving by Thomas Bewick of a Chillingham Bull, 1789
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