English units of measurement

This article is about the historical development of measurement in England up to 1826. For other uses, see English units (disambiguation).

English units of measurement evolved from Anglo-Saxon and ancient Roman units of measurement, and were used in England up to 1826, when many were redefined or superseded by Imperial units. Various standards have applied to English units at different times, in different places, and for different applications.

Use of the term "English units" can be ambiguous, as, in addition to the meaning used in this article, it is sometimes used to refer to the units of the descendant Imperial system as well to those of the descendant system of United States customary units.

The two main sets of English units were the Winchester Units, used from 1495 to 1587, as affirmed by King Henry VII, and the Exchequer Standards, in use from 1588 to 1825, as defined by Queen Elizabeth I.

In England (and the British Empire), the systems of English units were replaced by the Imperial system in 1826, under a Weights and Measures Act passed in 1824 which retained many though not all of the unit names and redefined (standardised) many of the definitions. In the US, being independent from the British Empire decades before the 1824 reforms, English units were standardized and adopted (as "US Customary Units") in 1832.

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