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Home > Environment > Weights and Measures Weights and Measures The earliest assessment of weight was simply the load which a person could carry. Measures of length, and thus area, were also assessed in relation to the body - the foot, a hand or a pace. Accurate measurement was only required by rulers who would weigh the treasures in the Royal strong room, whilst for ordinary people trade continued by barter. The oldest known weights date back to around 8000 BC and by 3000 BC, trade weighing had begun. This spread from the Indus civilisation and by 2500 BC, the whole Babylonian and Egyptian empires were weighing goods for trade transactions. With the development of coinage around 700 B.C. the need for accuracy and standardisation became more important. In England various systems of weights have come and gone. Different systems were used in different areas and in different trades. By Tudor times no fewer than six different measures of the pound weight were in use, according to what was to be weighed and in which industry. In the field of length measurement there were similar variations. In the Thirteenth Century four different measures of the foot were in use in England and Wales, according to the area where they were used and whether they were used for building or land measurement. Over the following centuries a slow process of standardisation followed with Monarchs and Parliament passing statues with the aim of producing conformity and accuracy. Standard weights and length measures were produced and maintained to provide accurate standards against which copies could be assessed. In the 1790s in France the Metric system was introduced both for weighing and measuring. This system, based on natural constants, was adopted by 18 countries in 1875. In 1897 the Metric system became legal for trade use in Great Britain. Today the United Kingdom has almost fully adopted the Metric system. All pre-packed goods are sold in metric units and with few exceptions traders must sell goods loose by reference to the metre or kilogram. Only a few traditional imperial measures are still allowed most notably the pint for the sale of beer.

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