English units

During the Anglo-Saxon period, the North German foot of 13.2 inches (335 millimetres) was the nominal basis for other units of linear measurement.

Prior to the enactment of a law known as the "Composition of Yards and Perches" (Latin: Compositio ulnarum et perticarum)[5] some time between 1266 and 1303, the English system of measurement had been based on that of the Anglo-Saxons, who were descended from tribes of northern Germany.

Scholars have speculated that the Compositio may have represented a compromise between the two earlier systems of units, the Anglo-Saxon and the Roman.

[citation needed] William the Conqueror, in one of his first legislative acts, confirmed existing Anglo-Saxon measurement, a position which was consistent with Norman policy in dealing with occupied peoples.

The Magna Carta of 1215 stipulates that there should be a standard measure of volume for wine, ale and corn (the London Quarter), and for weight, but does not define these units.

[6] Later development of the English system was by defining the units in laws and by issuing measurement standards.

For that reason, it is not always possible to give accurate definitions of units such as pints or quarts, in terms of ounces, prior to the establishment of the imperial gallon.

Other liquids such as brandy, spirits, mead, cider, vinegar, oil, honey, and so on, were also measured and sold in these units.

[17] The wine gallon was re-established by Queen Anne in 1707 after a 1688 survey found the Exchequer no longer possessed the necessary standard but had instead been depending on a copy held by the Guildhall.

This was not always the case though, and even the same market that sold wheat and oats by weight might sell barley simply by volume.

A sixteenth of a bushel might be called a pottle, hoop, beatment, or quartern, in towns only a short distance apart.

The avoirdupois pound was eventually standardised as 7,000 grains and was used for all products not subject to Apothecaries's or Tower weight.