What is an Acre?

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 365, 5 March 1932, Page 26 (Supplement)

What is an Acre?

In school table-books, s£yds are called 1 rod, pole, or perch, and the square formed by this length, containing 301 sq yds, is called 1 square rod, pole, or perch. Surveyors object to this confusion of terms, and are agreed that the term pole should be used for lineal measure, and perch for square measure. Originally land measure differed in various parts of England, being governed by the custom of the particular locality. For instance, 3630 sq yds made 1 Wiltshire acre; 4000 made 1 Devonshire or Somerset acre; 5760 made 1 Cornwall acre; 7840 made 1 Lancashire acre; and 10,240 made 1 Cheshire or Staffordshire acre. Now, however, land measure for the whole of England is governed by law, 4840 sq yds making 1 acre, as by an Act passed in 1835 all local or customary measures were abolished. On old documents and plans the area of lands is given in customary acres, roods, and perches. The standards of measurement in London for testing chains, rules, and measuring rods are situated in the Guildhall and on the north side of Trafalgar Square, and may be used ' by the public.