Strong Wool, Soft Wool, Extra Durable Rugs
Guilds of High Peak Estate wool is the only wool in an eye heart hand rug.
Sustainability and Biodiversity
High Peak’s nimble Perendale sheep roam outdoors year round, covering 2 to 3 km a day, sometimes up to 10. They forage on organic grasses and clover (the Guild family insists on everything being natural). The High Peak wool is shorn carefully once a year at maximum staple length, 10 to 15.5 cm, and thickness, 30 to 36 microns (note that an average human hair is approximately 60 microns).
The Guilds are renowned stewards of the land. They are the 2024 recipients of the Ballance Farm Environment Award “Regional Supreme Winner” for the Canterbury Region; and, for all of New Zealand, the 2024 winners of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy and the 2024 National Ambassadors for Sustainable Farming and Growing. James and Anna Guild established High Peak Estate in 1973. In 2020, James completed nine years as the chair of the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust. That organization partners with landowners to protect 400,000+ acres of threatened native biodiversity, including 450 acres at High Peak.
New Zealand Purity and Best Practices
This luxurious wool reflects the purity of its origin – the Guild family’s 10,000 acre High Peak Estate on the South Island of New Zealand – its sparkling streams fed by the Southern Alps, the clear mountain air, grassy range, and sunny peaks immediately east of the Rakaia Gorge called the windiest place in New Zealand. Ideal conditions for growing some of the smoothest, springiest, and whitest strong wool on the planet.
Shearing the wool from the Perendale sheep is done annually with great care at High Peak (see the video above). The Guilds care for their sheep, per the highest standards for animal welfare, 365 days a year. The Animal Protection Index ranks New Zealand grade "A". That puts New Zealand among just 4 nations, among 50 graded worldwide, to earn the highest grade for protecting animals and promoting animal welfare.
The Guilds' High Peak Estate's wool production and wool meet or exceed the strict standards set by EU Ecolabel accreditation and the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) in collaboration with Wools of New Zealand (WNZ). eye heart hand is a proud partner of WNZ.
