For Immediate Release:
March 10, 2026
Contact:
Olivia Mitchell
Marketing Manager
Culture & Heritage Museums
www.chmuseums.org
803.909.7244
Sheep Shearing Saturday
McCONNELLS, S.C. – Historic fiber arts are brought to life through live demonstrations of sheep shearing and textile production during Historic Brattonsville’s Sheep Shearing Saturday. This year’s Sheep Shearing is a special themed part of the Living History Saturdays series of year-around programming where history comes to life through demonstrations, hands-on activities, and farm life.
Explore Historic Brattonsville to see the wool production process, including carding, spinning, and weaving wool as well as dyeing with exotic plants. Visitors are invited to try their hands at carding, spinning, and weaving. Shearing, which does not hurt the sheep, but provides them with a haircut, will take place at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., using original hand shears.
Timed activities include a live feeding of the historic farm animals at 10:30 a.m., a guided site tour at 12 p.m., natural dyeing demo at 1 p.m., and a weaving demo at 3 p.m.
Historic Brattonsville’s flock of sheep are a Gulf Coast heritage breed which are a critically endangered breed that Historic Brattonsville works to help preserve.
WHAT: Sheep Shearing Saturday
WHERE: Historic Brattonsville 1444 Brattonsville Rd. McConnells, S.C. 29726
WHEN: March 28, 2026 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
WEBSITE: chmuseums.org/event/sheep/
VISITOR SERVICES: 803.684.2327
IMAGES:
- Part of Historic Brattonsville’s Heritage Breed Flock
All images courtesy of Culture & Heritage Museums. Contact omitchell@chmuseums.org for high resolution images.
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About Historic Brattonsville:
Historic Brattonsville is a living history site that presents the agricultural and social history of the Carolina Piedmont from the American Revolution through the Reconstruction Era. The site features over 30 historic structures, including family houses, that provide the setting for the story of the Brattons, those enslaved on the plantation, and the Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground, the final resting place of 481 people of African descent. The site spreads over 800-acres and comprises farmed land with heritage breed animals, a Revolutionary War battlefield, and a nature preserve with miles of walking trails. Seasonal events, reenactments, and living history programs interpret life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Historic Brattonsville is included in The Green Book of South Carolina – a travel guide to African American cultural sites.
Museum Membership:
Become a Culture & Heritage Museums member and enjoy one year of exclusive benefits including free general admission to all CHM museum sites: Historic Brattonsville, Museum of York County and Main Street Children’s Museum. Membership helps support the work of preserving and communicating the cultural and natural history of the Carolina Piedmont. Consider becoming a CHM member and/or give the gift of CHM membership. Details at chmuseums.org/membership.
Museums for All:
As part of the Museums for All initiative, all Culture & Heritage Museum sites provide reduced admission for low-income families; visit museums4all.org for more information. Culture & Heritage Museum sites are also KultureCity® Certified and Sensory InclusiveTM.