The breed ceased to exist about 50 years ago but now
a experiment at Wetheriggs Animal Sanctuary, adjacent to the A66 near Greta Bridge, could see it make a return.
Originally, Cumberland sausages were made from the pork of the Cumberland pig.
Terry Bowes, of Wetheriggs, is working with university students and other agencies to recreate the breed.
He said: “The Cumberland pig went out of existence in the 1960s. It was a real shame. What had happened was they had become unviable because they took a long time to fatten.
“We have gone for a long time with pork in the supermarkets that doesn’t have a lot of taste. The [Cumberland pork] flavour is unique in that it does have a fair bit of fat on it.
“What we decided to do was we got a sample of DNA from an old hide and we are trying to recreate the breed using the same gene pool that would have gone into Cumberland pigs.”
The DNA revealed that the Cumberland breed was a mix of Tamworth and Gloucester old spot pigs, as well as the Polynesian kunekune.
Mr Bowes said: “You would think how on earth did a Polynesian pig get in?
“Whitehaven was quite a big port back then and all sorts of animals came through Whitehaven.”
The spices that came through Whitehaven were added to the Cumberland sausage to give it its unique flavour.
DNA from the latest batch of piglets is to be sent for analysis in the coming weeks which will determine how much closer Wetheriggs is to achieving the goal.
Mr Bowes said: “We think we can get to 99.8 per cent. We think that is as close as we can get.”
Already the piglets are looking quite close to the Cumberland breed with some of them showing the distinctive floppy ears.
Mr Bowes said: “Wouldn’t it be nice to have Cumberland sausage only made with Cumberland pigs.”
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