Bushel
Volume · Also called: Winchester bushel
That is
36.37 l
1 bushel (imperial)
The other way round: 1 m³ is 27.4962 bushels.
- Period: 1826 to the 20th century
- Region: the UK
- Goods: grain, fruit, coal
Values
| Value | That is | Period | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| imperial | 36.37 l | 1826 to the 20th century | grain, fruit, coal · the UK |
| WinchesterApproximate: a cylinder 18½ inches across and 8 inches deep, 2150.42 cubic inches. It is still the US bushel. | 35.24 l | 1697 to 1826 | grain · England, then the US |
What the unit was used for
The bushel is the great grain measure of England, and “Winchester measure” carries the name of the Anglo-Saxon royal capital where the standards were kept.
The earliest reference is a statute of Edgar the Peaceful, about 959 to 963, directing that the measure held at Winchester be used throughout the realm; Henry VII gave the bushel formal shape in 1495.
It was redefined in 1697 as a cylinder 18½ inches in internal diameter and 8 inches deep, and the imperial bushel of 1826 is about 3 per cent larger again.
The United States kept the older English standard, so the Winchester bushel is the US bushel to this day, formally adopted there in 1836.
A bushel measures volume, but grain was traded by a bushel weight that differed by crop, so a bushel of wheat and a bushel of oats are not the same mass.
In the system
1 bushel = 8 gallons = 4 pecks; 8 bushels = 1 quarter