Essex

The Essex pig was an English domestic pig associated with Essex and the wider East Anglian farming region. Historical descriptions are not completely uniform, but the later Essex type was best known as a black or black-and-white saddleback pig, often with a white belt over the shoulders and forelegs. It was valued as a hardy grazing pig and helped shape the modern British Saddleback after the Essex and Wessex Saddleback herd books were amalgamated in the twentieth century.

As a separate breed, the Essex is usually treated as absorbed or extinct rather than a common source of pure breeding stock. Present-day interest is mostly historical, conservation-minded, or tied to saddleback ancestry. Anyone seeing pigs sold under the Essex name should ask what standard and documentation are being used. Management would resemble other outdoor heritage pigs: secure fencing, shade, a dry ark or shed, clean water, and feed balanced to support growth without letting the pigs become overly fat.