Characteristics

The Essex, in its traditional form, was a smallish pig with 'pricked' ears and a black ground colour, with a broad band of white 'sheeting' across the shoulders.

History

Like other old British pig breeds, the ancestor of the Essex may have originated in the county of the same name from selective breeding of local wild pigs. It was originally a smallish, 'coarse' black-and-white pig that was noted for being easy to keep and cheap to feed, qualities that ensured its popularity with smallholders. The Old Essex, as it came to be known, was deliberately 'improved' in the mid 19th century by crossing it with imported pigs.

The Essex pig remained locally popular until as recently as the mid 1950s, and had actually increased in numbers during the Second World War and immediately afterwards, based on its reputation for hardiness and its ability to feed itself by foraging. In 1954, 488 Essex boars (2% of the total British stock) were still licensed, and 3,716 sows registered.

The position of the Essex breed changed markedly after the publication of a 1955 report by the Advisory Committee on the Development of Pig Production in the United Kingdom, chaired by Sir Harold Howitt. The report, issued after the end of wartime rationing, expressed concern that the UK's pig farms were poorly placed to compete with European and Scandinavian pork and bacon producers, particularly those of Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, and identified that the wide variety of local breeds still used in the UK hampered development. It was therefore recommended that pig farmers concentrate on three breeds: the Welsh

Welsh (pig)

The Welsh is a breed of domestic pig native to Wales. It is a large white breed known for its hardiness in outdoor farming and its long, pear-shaped body. First mentioned in the 1870s, the breed is currently the third most common sire in the U.K. after the Large White and British Landrace...

, the Landrace

British Landrace

The British Landrace is a British domestic breed of pig and one of the most popular in the United Kingdom. It is white with heavy drooping ears that cover most of the face and is bred for pork and bacon. The breed originated in the 1949 importation of 12 landrace pigs from Scandinavia — four...

, and the Large White

Large White (pig)

The Large White, also known as the English Large White, is a breed of domestic pig originating in Yorkshire, hence also known as the Yorkshire pig. First recognized in 1868, the breed is the progenitor of the American Yorkshire in North America...

, and as a result the Essex pig went into a steep decline.

While the breed societies of the Wessex

Wessex Saddleback

The Wessex Saddleback or Wessex Pig is a breed of domestic pig originating in the West Country of England, , especially in Wiltshire and the New Forest area of Hampshire. It is black, with white forequarters. In Britain it was amalgamated with the Essex pig to form the British Saddleback, and it...

 (another breed featuring a black ground colour and white shoulder markings, although with a different origin) and Essex pigs had amalgamated as early as 1918, the formal end of the Essex pig came in 1967, when the stud books were also amalgamated with the intention of merging the two breeds into the British Saddleback

British Saddleback

The British Saddleback is a breed of domestic pig created in the 20th century from the amalgamation of two similarly-coloured breeds, the Essex and Wessex Saddleback. The origin of the British Saddleback is better authenticated than most...

. This was intended to improve the breed's characteristics, produce hybrid vigour, and prevent inbreeding in the remaining small herds. For many years the Essex pig was considered to have become extinct in 1967, although it was thought a few pure-bred individuals might survive on small farms.

Re-creation of the breed

Later research showed that one farmer, John Croshaw, had refused to amalgamate his herd of Essex pigs (the "Glascote Herd"), which retained a pure Essex bloodline despite being officially registered as British Saddlebacks: Croshaw had carefully managed his stock to avoid inbreeding. The Essex Pig Society was formed in 1997, and since that time Jimmy Doherty

Jimmy Doherty (farmer)

Jimmy Doherty is a Suffolk based farmer and television presenter for the BBC, famous for the show Jimmy's Farm, based around his and his partner Michaela Furney's Essex Pig Company.-Biography:...

 and Michaela Furney of Jimmy's Farm

Jimmy's Farm

Jimmy's Farm was a documentary series, in 2002, made by Fresh One Productions for BBC Two in the UK. It featured the story of Jimmy Doherty setting up the Essex Pig Company, a rare breeds piggery on the outskirts of Ipswich in Suffolk...

have made further efforts to publicise and re-establish the breed.