They might look like a wild relic from ancient history, but Iron Age pigs could herald a new future for a west Norfolk farm hoping to nurture an appetite for speciality pork.
These boisterous new arrivals have a wild streak, reminiscent of the beasts hunted for meat in ancient times.
And that's because the piglets were bred to mirror the characteristics of animals represented in the artworks of the Iron Age.
But despite that historical heritage, the owners of this growing herd are looking to the future – hoping to use a high-welfare approach to nurture a profitable consumer taste for speciality pork.
The piglets are the first litter to be born into a Norfolk herd of Iron Age pigs, established last summer by Peter Jackson on a 10-acre site at Wild Hog Farm in Blackborough End, near King's Lynn.
After retiring from his career in the building trade, the carpenter-turned-farmer decided to raise the hybrid breed, developed in the 1980s by crossing a wild boar with a Tamworth sow.
Mr Jackson's pigs also have some Gloucester Old Spot in their genetic make-up – evident from the spotty appearance of at least one of the eight youngsters which arrived this week.
Future plans include bringing in a pure-bred wild boar to help breed out the Old Spot characteristics as the herd develops from its current size of 10 breeding sows. But more immediately, Mr Jackson hopes to encourage local consumers, chefs and restaurateurs to try the slow-grown, free-range pork – and establish a lasting market for it.
Mr Jackson, 69, said: 'As far as I know we are the only farm in Norfolk keeping Iron Age pigs. I have wanted to keep pigs right from an early age, but the opportunity never presented itself. I was a carpenter, and I am supposed to be retired, but I thought: 'Now is the time'.
'I was just looking for something different. I looked at the Iron Age pigs and we found a contact up in Aviemore in Scotland, who kept pure-bred wild boar and Iron Age pigs, and she was very obliging.
'Then I applied for a licence to keep wild boar, which the local authority (West Norfolk Council) has granted me. We need the wild boar on the farm to keep the genes going, but we have not got them here yet. We wanted to see how these first litters come out first.'
Mr Jackson invested £12,000 in the fencing for the site and the purchase of the initial 22 animals from Scotland. He said he had tried to keep their environment as close as possible to their traditional habitat. They drink spring water and are free to roam and chew tree branches.
'Because they are a woodland pig, I thought: 'Let's make the most of what we have got here',' he said. 'We have got oak trees and there were lots of brambles. I think it is all worthwhile, just getting the pleasure of seeing the animals.
'It is a challenge, but we will see how it goes. We will let the meat speak for itself. That is my motto.'
Another key figure in the farm's development is Mr Jackson's 'mentor' Sue Pitkin, who hails from a farming family in Harrow and worked as a veterinary assistant for 15 years, which brought her into contact with many different types of pig system, from artisan breeders to commercial producers.
The 57-year-old said the Wild Hog Farm ethos is all about rearing 'happy pigs', which are slaughtered just six miles away at Howard's butchers in Gayton, at the age of about 12 months.
'An average domestic pig at six months old is already hitting 70-80kg, and ready for slaughter,' she said. 'But these are going on longer and to my mind it is better because we have got good pigs who are happy and free-ranging and we have got facilities as near as possible.
'We name these pigs and we talk to them. We have loved them and fussed them and given them a fantastic life, and even the butcher has said they are not stressed – and you can taste it in the meat.
'You can hear other pigs going past on trailers, and they are all squealing. A happy pig does not scream and shout. We sometimes have some fun and games getting ours onto the trailer, but other than that they don't make a sound going to slaughter. They get off the trailer happy and wagging their tails.
'To my mind that is proper farming. It does not matter what breed you have got, the meat will be better if you put a bit of time into it, and give them a bit of fuss. Happy pigs give you better meat.'
A taste of the past
Although Iron Age pigs are traditionally a cross between a wild boar and Tamworth sow, the animals at Wild Hog Farm also have some Gloucester Old Spot genetics to make them easier to handle.
They are slaughtered at the age of 12 months, giving a gamey meat product with a good layer of fat and a distinctive taste, according to Sue Pitkin, who has worked with Mr Jackson to establish the herd.
'The Tamworth is basically a bacon pig, but with the wild boar you are getting the best of both worlds,' she said. 'You get bacon, sausages and everything else – nothing is wasted apart from the 'oink'.
'It is a dense meat, but it melts in your mouth. It is such a good quality and it is so dark. And it really fills you up – two slices of that and you're full. You do feel like you have had an old-fashioned meal like I used to have in the 1960s when I was growing up.
'What we want now is to find a chef, or a restaurant or a pub to try the meat and see what they say. We want the feedback.
'At the moment we are just selling to friends from the farm. It is so much in its infancy. It is the boar's first season, so we needed to know if he could do the job.
'In five years, I would want at least two compatible herds that could be inter-bred, and we eventually hope to breed out the Old Spot. We want some lady wild boars on the farm to keep the boys happy and we should be onto full Iron Age by then. If we can get it organised with the authorities, it would be nice to have a shop on site too.'
The farm can be contacted on 07867 314079 or peterjackson693@gmail.com.
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