(04-03-2023, 09:04 AM)BIAD Wrote: Just for reference:
"Rod, old English measure of distance equal to 16.5 feet (5.029 metres), with variations from 9 to 28 feet
(2.743 to 8.534 metres) also being used. It was also called a perch or pole.
The word rod derives from Old English rodd and is akin to Old Norse rudda (“club”). Etymologically rod is
also akin to the Dutch rood which referred to a land area of 40 square rods, equal to one-quarter acre, or
10,890 square feet (1,012 square metres). It also denoted just one square rod, or 272.25 square feet
(25.29 square metres). The rood also was a British linear unit, containing 660 feet (201.2 metres)."
Source:
It's a unit of surveyor's measure here, and in addition to the alternate names listed, is sometimes known as a "chain", from the rod-long measuring chain surveyors used to use to measure boundary distances regardless of landscape slope. A chain lies easier on the uneven ground than a 16 1/2 foot pole does, and it's easier to maneuver through the thickets. For example, my land deed, which was surveyed out in the very early 1800's (around 1816, I think) has all the boundary measurements in "rods" instead of feet or yards.
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