The informal publicimperialmeasurement standards erected at theRoyal Observatory,Greenwich,London, in the 19th century: 1British yard, 2feet, 1foot, 6inches, and 3inches. The inexact monument was designed to permit rods of the correct measure to fit snugly into its pins at an ambient temperature of 62 °F (16.66 °C).[1][2]Bronze Yard No.11, the official standard of length for theUnited States between 1855 and 1892, when theTreasury Department formally adopted a metric standard. Bronze Yard No.11 was forged to be an exact copy of the British Imperial Standard Yard held byParliament. Both are line standards: the yard was defined by the distance at 62°F between two fine lines drawn ongold plugs(closeup, top) installed in recesses near each end of the bar.
The word 'yard' is ahomonym of 'yard' in the sense ofan enclosed area of land. This second meaning of 'yard' has anetymology related to the word ‘garden’ and is not related to the unit of measurement.[10][11]
InIndia the yard is colloquially known as aguz, which equals 3 feet.
The standard of measure has always been taken either from some part of the human body, such as a foot, the length of the arm, the span of the hand, or from other natural objects, such as a barleycorn, or other kind of grain. But the yard was the original standard adopted by the early English sovereigns, and has been supposed to be founded upon the breadth of the chest of the Saxon race. The yard continued till the reign of Henry VII., when the ell was introduced, that being a yard and a quarter, or 45 inches. The ell was borrowed from the Paris drapers. Subsequently, however, Queen Elizabeth re-introduced the yard as the English standard of measure.[12]
William of Malmesbury'sDeeds of the Kings of England records that during the reign ofHenry I (1100–1135), "the measure of his arm was applied to correct the falseell of the traders and enjoined on all throughout England."[16] Thefolktale that the length was bounded by the king's nose[17] was added some centuries later.Charles Moore Watson dismisses William's account as "childish",[18] but William was among the most conscientious and trustworthy medieval historians.[19] TheFrench "king's foot" was supposed to have derived fromCharlemagne,[19] and the English kings subsequently repeatedly intervened to impose shorter units with the aim of increasing tax revenue.[citation needed]
It is ordained that 3grains of barley dry and round do make aninch, 12 inches make 1foot, 3 feet make 1 yard, 5 yards and a half make aperch, and 40 perches in length and 4 in breadth make anacre.
TheLiber Horn compilation (1311) includes that statute with slightly different wording and adds:[22]
And be it remembered that theiron yard of our Lord the King containeth 3feet and no more, and a foot ought to contain 12inches by the right measure of this yard measured, to wit, the 36th part of this yard rightly measured maketh 1 inch neither more nor less and 5 yards and a half make aperch that is 16 feet and a half measured by the aforesaid yard of our Lord the King.
In a law of 1439 (18 Hen. 6. c. 16) the sale of cloth by the "yard and handful" was abolished, and the "yard and inch" instituted[25] (seeell).
There shall be but one Measure of Cloth through the Realm by theYard and the Inch, and not by theYard and Handful, according to the London Measure.
According to Connor,[26] cloth merchants had previously sold cloth by the yard and handful to evade high taxes on cloth (the extra handful being essentially a black-market transaction). Enforcement efforts resulted in cloth merchants switching over to the yard and inch, at which point the government gave up and made the yard and inch official. In 1552, the yard and inch for cloth measurement was again sanctioned in law (5 & 6 Edw. 6. c. 6.An Act for the true making of Woolen Cloth.)[27]
XIV. And that all and everyBroad Cloth and Clothes calledTaunton Clothes,Bridgwaters, and other Clothes which shall be made after the said Feast in Taunton, Bridgwater or in other Places of like Sort, shall contain at the Water in Length betwixt twelve and thirteen Yards,Yard and Inch of the Rule, and in Breadth seven Quarters of a Yard: (2) And everynarrow Cloth made after the said Feast in the said Towns or elsewhere of like Sorts, shall contain in the Water in Length betwixt three and twenty and five and twenty Yards,Yard and Inch as is aforesaid, and in Breadth one Yard of like Measure; (3) and every such Cloth, both Broad and Narrow being wellscowred, thicked,milled and fully dried, shall weigh xxxiv. li. the Piece at the least.
XV. And that all Clothes named Check-Kersie andStraits, which shall be made after the said Feast shall contain being wet between seventeen and eighteenYards, with the Inches as is aforesaid, and in Breadth one Yard at the least at the Water; and being well scowred, thicked, milled and fully dried, shall weigh xxiv. li. the Piece at the least.
The yard and inch for cloth measurement was also sanctioned again in legislation of 1557–1558 (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 5.An act touching the making of woolen clothes. par. IX.)[28]
IX. Item, That every ordinarykersie mentioned in the said act shall contain in length in the water betwixt xvi. and xvii. yards,yard and inch; and being well scoured thicked, milled, dressed and fully dried, shall weigh nineteen pounds the piece at the least:...
As recently as 1593, the same principle is found mentioned once again (35 Eliz. 1. c. 10An act for the reformation of sundry abuses in clothes, called Devonshire kerjies [sic] or dozens, according to a proclamation of the thirty-fourth year of the reign of our sovereign lady the Queen that now is. par. III.)[29]
(2) and each and every of the same Devonshire kersies or dozens, so being raw, and as it cometh forth off the weaver's loom (without racking, stretching, straining or other device to encrease the length thereof) shall contain in length between fifteen and sixteen yards by the measure ofyard and inch by the rule,...
One of the oldest yard-rods in existence is the clothyard of theWorshipful Company of Merchant Taylors. It consists of a hexagonal iron rod5⁄8 in (16 mm) in diameter and1⁄100 in (0.25 mm) short of a yard, encased within a silver rod bearing the hallmark 1445.[26][30] In the early 15th century, the Merchant Taylors Company was authorized to "make search" at the opening of the annualSt. Bartholomew's Day Cloth Fair.[31][32] In the mid-18th century, Graham[who?] compared the standard yard of the Royal Society to other existing standards. These were a "long-disused" standard made in 1490 during the reign ofHenry VII,[33] and a brass yard and a brassell from 1588 in the time ofQueen Elizabeth and still in use at the time, held at theExchequer;[34] a brass yard and a brass ell at theGuildhall; and a brass yard presented to theClock-Makers' Company by the Exchequer in 1671.[35] The Exchequer yard was taken as "true"; the variation was found to be +1⁄20 to −1⁄15 of an inch, and an additional graduation for the Exchequer yard was made on the Royal Society's standard.[35] In 1758 the legislature required the construction of a standard yard, which was made from the Royal Society's standard and was deposited with the clerk of theHouse of Commons; it was divided into feet, one of the feet into inches, and one of the inches into tenths.[35] A copy of it, but with upright cheeks between which other measuring rods could be placed, was made for the Exchequer for commercial use.[35][36]
From and after the First Day ofMay One thousand eight hundred and twenty five the Straight Line or Distance between the Centres of the Two Points in the Gold Studs of the Straight Brass Rod now in the Custody of the Clerk of the House of Commons whereon the Words and Figures "Standard Yard 1760" are engraved shall be and the same is hereby declared to be the original and genuine Standard of that Measure of Length or lineal Extension called a Yard; and that the same Straight Line or Distance between the Centres of the said Two Points in the said Gold Studs in the said Brass Rod the Brass being at the Temperature of Sixty two Degrees byFahrenheit's Thermometer shall be and is hereby denominated the Imperial Standard Yard and shall be and is hereby declared to be the Unit or only Standard Measure of Extension, wherefrom or whereby all other Measures of Extension whatsoever, whether the same be lineal, superficial or solid, shall be derived, computed and ascertained; and that all Measures of Length shall be taken in Parts or Multiples, or certain Proportions of the said Standard Yard; and that One third Part of the said Standard Yard shall be a Foot, and the Twelfth Part of such Foot shall be an Inch; and that the Pole or Perch in Length shall contain Five such Yards and a Half, the Furlong Two hundred and twenty such Yards, and the Mile One thousand seven hundred and sixty such Yards.
In 1834, the primary Imperial yard standard was partially destroyed in a fire known as theBurning of Parliament.[39][n 4]. In 1838, a commission[n 5] was formed to reconstruct the lost standards, including the troy pound, which had also been destroyed.[43] In 1845, a new yard standard was constructed based on two previously existing standards known as A1 and A2, both of which had been made for the Ordnance Survey, and R.S. 46, the yard of theRoyal Astronomical Society. All three had been compared to the Imperial standard before the fire.
The new standard was made of Baily's metal No. 4 consisting of 16 parts copper,2+1⁄2 parts tin, and 1 part zinc. It was 38 inches long and 1 inch square. TheWeights and Measures Act 1855 granted official recognition to the new standards. Between 1845 and 1855 forty yard standards were constructed, one of which was selected as the new Imperial standard. Four others, known as 'parliamentary copies', were distributed to the Royal Mint, the Royal Society of London, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and the New Palace at Westminster, commonly called the Houses of Parliament.[44] The other 35 yard standards were distributed to the cities of London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, as well as the United States and other countries (although only the first five had official status).[45] The imperial standard received by the United States is known as "Bronze Yard No. 11"[46]
TheWeights and Measures Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 49) confirmed the status of the existing yard standard, mandated regular intercomparisons between the several yard standards, and authorized the construction of one additional Parliamentary Copy (made in 1879 and known as Parliamentary Copy VI).[47]
Subsequent measurements revealed that the yard standard and its copies were shrinking at the rate of one part per million every twenty years due to the gradual release of strain incurred during the fabrication process.[48][49]Theinternational prototype meter, on the other hand, was comparatively stable. A measurement made in 1895 determined the length of the meter at39.370113 inches relative to the imperial standard yard. TheWeights and Measures (Metric System) Act 1897[50] (60 & 61 Vict. c. 46) in conjunction with Order in Council 411 (1898) made this relationship official. After 1898, thede facto legal definition of the yard came to be accepted as36⁄39.370113 of a meter.
The yard (known as the "international yard" in the United States) was legally defined to be exactly 0.9144meter in 1959 under an agreement in 1959 between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.[51] In the UK, the provisions of the treaty were ratified by theWeights and Measures Act 1963. The Imperial Standard Yard of 1855 was renamed the United Kingdom Primary Standard Yard and retained its official status as the national prototype yard.[52][53]
There are corresponding units ofarea andvolume, thesquare yard andcubic yard respectively. These are sometimes referred to simply as "yards" when no ambiguity is possible, for example an American or Canadianconcrete mixer may be marked with a capacity of "9 yards" or "1.5 yards", where cubic yards are obviously referred to.
Yards are also used and are the legal requirement onroad signs for shorter distances in the United Kingdom, and are also frequently found in conversation between Britons much like in the United States for distance.[58]
The yard, subdivided into eighths, is used for the purchase of fabrics in the United States and United Kingdom[n 6][citation needed] and was previously used elsewhere. In the United States the term "fat quarter" is used for a piece of fabric which is half a yard in length cut from a roll and then cut again along the width so that it is only half the width of the roll, thus the same area as a piece of one quarter yard cut from the full width of the roll; these pieces are popular forpatchwork and quilting.[59] The term "fat eighth" is also used, for a piece of one quarter yard from half the roll width, the same area as one eighth cut from the roll.[60]
For purposes of measuring cloth, the early yard was divided by the binary method into two, four, eight and sixteen parts.[61] The two most common divisions were the fourth and sixteenth parts. The quarter of a yard (9 inches) was known as the "quarter" without further qualification, while the sixteenth of a yard (2.25 inches) was called anail.[62] The eighth of a yard (4.5 inches) was sometimes called afinger,[63] but was more commonly referred to simply as an eighth of a yard, while the half-yard (18 inches) was called "half a yard".[64]
Other units related to the yard, but not specific to cloth measurement: two yards are afathom and a quarter of a yard (when not referring to cloth) is aspan.[65]
pre-1959 US yard – defined 1869, implemented 1893,[66] deprecated 2023[67] For survey purposes, certain pre-1959 units were retained, usually prefaced by the word "survey," among them the survey inch,survey foot, and survey mile, also known as thestatute mile. Therod andfurlong existed only in their pre-1959 form and are thus not prefaced by the word "survey", and were deprecated at the same time as the survey foot. New conversion factors for the rod and furlong as 16.5 international feet and 660 international feet respectively have been published by NIST.[68] However, it is not clear if a "survey yard" actually existed.[69]
^The later Latin glossvirgata terre describes it as "branched".
^Middle English:Thanne drowe I me amonges draperes · my donet to lerne / To drawe þe lyser alonge [·] þe lenger it semed / Amonge þe riche rayes · I rendred a lessoun / To broche hem with a bat-nedle · and plaited hem togyderes / And put hem in a presse · and pyned hem þerinne / Tyl ten ȝerdes or twelue · tolled out threttene[8] Translation: "Then tarried I amongst drapers · my grammar to learn; /To draw theselvedge along · the longer it seemed; /Among the rich ranged cloths · rendered a lesson, / To pierce them with a pack-needle · and plait them together, / Put them in a press · and pin them therein / Till ten yards or twelve · had tolled out to thirteen.[9]
^Although not originally statutes, thestatutes of an uncertain date were eventually accepted as such with the passage of time.
^The following references are useful for identifying the authors of the preceding reference: Ref.,[40] Ref.,[41] and Ref.[42]
^abcdKnight, Charles (1840).The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 9. London: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. pp. 221–2.In 1758 the legislature turned attention to this subject; and after some investigations on the comparative lengths of the various standards, ordered a rod to be made of brass, about 38 or 39 inches long, and graduated from the Royal Society's yard: this was marked "Standard Yard, 1758," and was laid by in the care of the clerk of the House of Commons. For commercial purposes another bar was made, with the yard marked off from the same standard; but it had two upright fixed cheeks, placed exactly a yard asunder, between which any commercial yard measures might be placed, in order to have their accuracy tested: it was graduated into feet, one of the feet into inches, and one of the inches into ten parts. This standard was to be kept at the Exchequer. In 1760, a copy of Bird's standard, made two years before, was constructed.
^abAiry, G. B.;Baily, F.;Bethune, J. E. D.;Herschel, J. F. W.;Lefevre, J. G. S.;Lubbock, J. W.;G. Peacock;Sheepshanks, R. (1841).Report of the Commissioners appointed to consider the steps to be taken for restoration of the standards of weight & measure (Report). London: W. Clowes and Sons for Her Majesty's Stationery Office. RetrievedApril 20, 2020.We shall in the first place describe the state of the Standards recovered from the ruins of the House of Commons, as ascertained in our inspection of them made on 1st June, 1838, at the Journal Office… No. 1. A brass bar marked "Standard [G. II. crown emblem] Yard, 1758," which on examination was found to have its right hand stud perfect, with the point and line visible, but with its left hand stud completely melted out, a hole only remaining. The bar was somewhat bent, and discoloured in every part. No. 2. A brass bar with a projecting cock at each end, forming a bed for the trial of yard-measures; discoloured. No. 3. A brass bar marked "Standard [G. II. crown emblem] Yard, 1760," from which the left hand stud was completely melted out, and which in other respects was in the same condition as No. 1. No. 4. A yard-bed similar to No. 2; discoloured. … It appears from this list that the bar adopted in the Act 5th Geo. IV., cap. 74, sect. 1, for the legal standard of one yard, (No. 3 of the preceding list), is so far injured, that it is impossible to ascertain from it, with the most moderate accuracy, the statutable length of one yard. … We have therefore to report that it is absolutely necessary that steps be taken for the formation and legalizing of new Standards of Length and Weight.
Langland, William (1377) [Digitized 2011], Burrow, John; et al. (eds.),The vision of William concerning Piers Plowman[The Piers Plowman Electronic Archive, Vol. 9:The B-Version Archetype], Boydell & Brewer Ltd. for Medieval Academy of America and Society for Early English & Norse Electronic Texts.(in Middle English)
Thorpe, Benjamin (1840),"The Laws of King Edgar",Ancient Laws and Institutes of England; Comprising Laws enacted under the Anglo-Saxon Kings from Æthelbirht to Cnut, With an English Translation of the Saxon; The Laws called Edward the Confessor's; The Laws of William the Conqueror, and those ascribed to Henry the First: Also, Monumenta Ecclesiastica Anglicana, From the Seventh to the Tenth Century; And the Ancient Latin Version of the Anglo-Saxon Laws. With a Compendious Glossary, &c., London: Commissioners of the Public Records of theKingdom.(in Old English) &(in Latin) &(in English)
