Hampstead Heath Seeks Volunteer Shepherds as Sheep Return to the Heath

Hampstead Heath has never been short of characters. Joggers, dog walkers, kite-flyers, wild swimmers, celebrities pretending not to be recognised, and the occasional man standing on a hill explaining London to a visiting relative. Now, for a short spell, it is getting another old-fashioned presence back: sheep.

A small flock of five sheep is returning to Hampstead Heath from 29 May to 8 June, and volunteers are being sought to help look after them while they graze on the Heath Extension. The project is part of ongoing conservation grazing trials designed to help manage grassland, encourage biodiversity, and revive a land-management tradition that was once part of the Heath’s everyday life.

The sheep, loaned from Mudchute Farm on the Isle of Dogs, will graze opposite Reynolds Close in Hampstead Way. The scheme is being organised by The Heath & Hampstead Society, working with the City of London Corporation, which manages the Heath, along with the London Natural History Society and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Why Are Sheep Grazing on Hampstead Heath?

It may sound like a whimsical rural interlude, as if the Heath has briefly decided to audition for a Thomas Hardy adaptation, but the idea is practical.

Conservation grazing is a traditional way of managing grassland. Sheep nibble at vegetation in a different way from machines. They help keep scrub under control, create a more varied grass structure, and can encourage a wider range of plants to grow. That, in turn, supports insects, birds, and other wildlife.

In other words, the sheep are not there as decoration. They are working. Quietly, woollily, and with considerably less noise than a strimmer.

Hampstead Heath has a long history of grazing. Sheep were once a familiar sight there, before disappearing in the mid-20th century. In 2019, sheep returned to the Heath for the first time since the 1950s, as part of a renewed interest in using older, gentler methods of landscape management.

Since then, small flocks have appeared for short grazing trials, helping conservationists understand how livestock can contribute to the care of this much-loved London green space.

Volunteer Shepherds Wanted

The Heath & Hampstead Society is now looking for volunteers to help watch over the visiting flock. Budding shepherds will take part in two-hour slots, keeping an eye on the animals and speaking to members of the public about why sheep are grazing on the Heath.

No previous shepherding experience is required. Volunteers will be briefed before taking part, so nobody is expected to arrive already fluent in sheep. Up to three volunteers are needed for each session, and family members or friends are welcome to join.

There will also be practical comforts nearby, including tea, coffee, toilets, and somewhere to shelter if the weather does what British weather does when you make outdoor plans.

The role is partly about animal welfare, partly about public engagement, and partly about helping Londoners understand that the Heath is not simply a large patch of green to be admired, crossed, picnicked on, or Instagrammed. It is a living landscape that needs careful management.

A Small Rural Echo in North London

There is something pleasingly strange about sheep returning to Hampstead Heath. London often behaves as if it has conquered nature, then nature quietly reappears in the margins: foxes at midnight, parakeets shrieking in plane trees, herons standing like retired judges beside ponds.

The sheep belong to that older London, the one that still flickers beneath the traffic and townhouses. Hampstead Heath has always resisted being too tidy. It is not a park in the manicured, municipal sense. It is rougher, stranger, more ancient-feeling. A place of ponds, woods, long grass, sudden views, and paths that seem to lead somewhere emotionally significant even when they only lead to another path.

So the return of sheep feels less like a novelty and more like a reminder. The Heath was never just scenery. It has always been worked, used, argued over, protected, and loved.

The next grazing visit after this one is expected in September, with a date currently planned for 21 September.

Anyone interested in volunteering can sign up for shepherding slots through The Heath & Hampstead Society website. As the Society puts it, shepherding helps conservation on the Heath — and it is also, frankly, a rather good way to spend two hours in London.