Public Standards of Length
Brass imperial measures set into the wall at Trafalgar Square, where Victorians could check an honest inch, foot and yard.
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The lowdown
Set into the stonework on the north side of Trafalgar Square, just below the National Gallery, are the Public Standards of Length, official brass markers showing the exact lengths of the imperial inch, foot, yard, chain, perch and pole. In an age of dodgy traders and inconsistent rulers, these let any citizen check a measurement against the legal standard.
Most of the thousands who cross the square daily walk right past them. It is free to find, and rather satisfying to lay your hand or umbrella against an officially certified Victorian yard, a quiet monument to the very idea of fairness and honest dealing.
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