The Collaborative International Dictionary
Southdown \South"down`\, a. Of or pertaining to the South Downs, a range of pasture hills south of the Thames, in England.
Southdown sheep (Zo["o]l.), a celebrated breed of shortwooled, hornless sheep, highly valued on account of the delicacy of their flesh. So called from the South Downs where the breed originated.
Wikipedia
The Southdown is a small, dual-purpose English sheep, raised primarily for meat. The Southdown breed was originally bred by John Ellman of Glynde, near Lewes, East Sussex, about 200 years ago. His work was continued by Jonas Webb of Babraham in Cambridgeshire, who developed the larger animal of today. It was exported to New Zealand and was used in the breeding of the Canterbury lamb.
This sheep was involved with crossbreeding to develop other breeds:
- with existing stock, the Hampshire,
- via the Hampshire, the Oxford Down
- with the Norfolk Horn, the Suffolk.
The Southdown in Britain is recognised by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as a native breed, although today it is popular amongst the smaller scale breeders of sheep.