The Composition of Yards and Perches ( la, Compositio Ulnarum et Perticarum) or the Statute of Ells and Perches was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by ...

defining the length of the barleycorn,

inch Measuring tape with inches The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth ...

foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg mad ...

, yard, and

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

, as well as the area of the

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

. Its date has been estimated at 1266–1303. The Latin text from the manuscript known as ''BL Cotton MS Claudius D 2'' is translated in Ruffhead's ''

Statutes at Large ''Statutes at Large'' is the name given to published collections or series of legislative Acts in a number of jurisdictions. The expression "statutes at large" was first used in the edition of Barker published in 1587. England and Great Britain ...

'') as A similar statement is made in Liber Horn (as published in '' The Statutes of the Realm''): The ''Composition of Yards and Perches'' belongs to a class of documents known as Statutes of uncertain date generally thought to be from c. 1250 to 1305. Although not originally statutes, they gradually acquired the force of law. In some early statute books ''Composition of Yards and Perches'' was appended to another statute of uncertain date, the ''Statute for the Measuring of Land'' also known as ''Statutum de Admensuratione Terrase'', ''An Ordinance for Measuring of Land'', sometimes (erroneously) listed as ''33° Edward I. st. 6. (1305)''. The ''Composition of Yards and Perches'' was repealed by the

Weights and Measures Act 1824 Weights and measures acts are acts of the British Parliament determining the regulation of weights and measures. It also refers to similar royal and parliamentary acts of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and the medieval Welsh states. ...

(5 George IV c. 74, par. 23).

References

{{UK legislation English laws Systems of units

See also

References