Rare Portlands knit way to survival Producing a British Rare Breed, naturally- coloured wool processed in England is something of which Deborah Williams is justifiably proud. The story started three ago when she began producing DK wool, but goes back much further than that. She has lived with her family at Armscote Manor in South Warwickshire for 25 years. The house itself is Jacobean and built by John Halford, a wool merchant, in the early 1600s. ‘I decided to keep sheep to keep the grass down’ she says. ‘Jo Henson was a neighbour and having visited his farm I decided to keep a rare breed that was at that time at high risk.’ The family breeds Portland Sheep, the oldest recorded sheep in England and one that managed to get mentioned in the Doomsday Book. ‘I also have a few B

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