as a measure of land

a Perch ( or Rod, or Pole) is approx 25 sq Metres or just over 30 Sq Yards

an Acre is 4 perch x 40 perch - approx 160 x 30 - 4840 sq yds

" the area one man and his ox can plough in one day"

< added 30/8/09>

Rod/Perch
a traditional unit of distance equal to 5.5 yards (16 feet 6 inches or exactly 5.0292 meters).
The rod and the furlong were the basic distance units used by the Anglo-Saxon residents
of England before the Norman conquest of 1066. The Saxons generally called this unit the
gyrd, a word which comes down to us as the name of a different unit, the yard. "Rod" is
another Saxon word which meant just what it means today: a straight stick. The Normans
preferred to call the gyrd a pole or a perch (a word of French origin, meaning a pole).

The length of the rod was well established at least as early as the eighth century.
It may have originated as the length of an ox-goad, a pole used to control a team of 8 oxen
(4 yokes). Scholars are not sure how the rod was related to shorter units. It may have been
considered equal to 20 "natural" feet (actual foot lengths), or it may have been
measured "by hand" as 30 shaftments. In any case, when the modern foot became established
in the twelfth century, the royal government did not want to change the length of the rod, since
that length was the basis of land measurement, land records, and taxes. Therefore the rod
was redefined to equal 16.5 of the new feet.

This length was called the "king's perch" at least as early as the time of King Richard the
Lionheart (1198). Although rods and perches of other lengths were used locally in Britain, the
king's perch eventually prevailed. The relationship between the rod and the other English
distance units was confirmed again by the Parliamentary statute of 1592, which defined the
statute mile to be either 320 rods or 1760 yards, thus forcing the rod to equal exactly 5.5 yards
or 16.5 feet.

Acre
a unit of area used for measuring real estate in English-speaking countries.
"Acre," an Old English word meaning a field, is derived from the Latin ager and
Greek agros, also meaning a field. The acre was originally defined as the area
that could be plowed in a day by a yoke of oxen. It was in use in England at
least as early as the eighth century, and by the end of the ninth century it was
generally understood to be the area of a field one furlong (40 rods or 10 chains)
long by 4 rods (or 1 chain) wide. Thus an acre is 10 square chains, 160 square
rods, 43 560 square feet or 4840 square yards. There are exactly 640 acres in
a square mile.

--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Hi Terry,

Did the John James you refer to die in 1853 (born 1785) and was married to Elizabeth Pray?
If that is the case, I am interested in his great grandparents, Richard born 1725 and married to Sarah. Do you know when Richard died, or who his great great grandparents were?

Regards,

Peter