Origin of the wool
The race that supplied this wool has been kept for centuries in the Campine heaths, a border area situated in Belgium and the Netherlands. Traditionally these heath sheep were important as 'suppliers' of meat, wool and (not unimportant for these poor sandy soils) manure. The wool quality is good and fine enough to make beautiful textiles from it, maybe because in the 19th century crossbreeding with merino sheep was eperimented with. Nowadays the Campine heath sheep are mainly used for grazing the heaths, which are increasingly suffering from grasses. Thanks to the grazing, these sheep contribute to the restoration of biodiversity.
