Brian and Sylvia Codling run Rectory Reserve with the support of a small group of volunteers.

Since moving to Lincolnshire in 1999 they have built up a collection of dogs, horses, chickens, ducks and a cat - but Brian always had a particular yearning to own ‘some pigs’. He mulled over the idea for a number of years but it proved impossible to persuade Sylvia who, amongst other reservations, was convinced that horses and pigs would not mix!

In early 2007 Brian discovered the story of the original Lincolnshire Curly Coat pig. It had been the cottager’s pig, or the ‘wage’ pig, owned by many rural Lincolnshire families and farm-workers. It was famed for its docile nature and its ‘lardy’ meat. Many families kept one at the bottom of the garden, fattened it for Christmas and lived off the meat through the winter months. Anyone who didn’t have one themselves knew someone who did! It was part and parcel of the landscape of the county.

Government subsidies for lean meat production coupled with changing tastes and agricultural mechanisation following the 2^nd World War led to its decline. By the mid-1970’s it had become extinct, the last British animal to do so before the Rare Breeds Survival Trust was set up. Fortunately, however, during its hey-day several hundred Lincolnshire Curly Coat pigs were exported to Austria and Hungary to cross-breed with their native Mangalitzas.  Brian heard that a number of these Mangalitza Curly Coats had been imported to Britain in November 2006 and that they carried the original Curly Coat genes. And that was it really. The combination of their curly hair and the opportunity to bring them back to Lincolnshire melted all resistance. The first two pigs arrived in April 2007 and were quickly followed in May by two more. Rectory Reserve was born when the vision grew from ‘owning curly coat pigs’ to ‘breeding curly coat pigs which would have a sustainable future in their ‘native’ county’.

The enthusiasm which greeted the arrival of the first piglets at the end of November 2007 was astonishing. Ever since, wherever and whenever people come in contact with them they are enchanted. The breeding herd is now established. Their reputation is spreading and with it the market for their products. However, the vision of securing a sustainable future for these Curly Coats will only be achieved when the following combination comes together:

-          sufficient breeding pairs to provide security in the event of disease and to develop the gene pool

-          broad dispersion of the animals throughout the County’s numerous farm parks and visitor centres and

-          demand for, and availability of, their products in the market place