Rood
Area · Also called: square perch, square rod, square pole
That is
1,012 m²
1 rood (rood)
The other way round: 1 ha is 9.8842 roods.
- Period: c. 1300 to the 20th century
- Region: England
- Goods: land, allotments
Values
| Value | That is | Period | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| rood | 1,012 m² | c. 1300 to the 20th century | land, allotments · England |
| square perch | 25.29 m² | c. 1300 to the 20th century | gardens, allotments · England |
What the unit was used for
The rood is a quarter acre and the working subdivision of the acre in English land records.
Holdings in surveys and tithe apportionments are written as “3a. 2r. 14p.”, three acres, two roods and fourteen perches, and anyone reading British estate papers, tithe maps or Victorian valuation records has to know the notation.
The square perch is the smallest of the three and the unit gardens and allotments were described in: the standard British allotment of ten square rods is 302½ square yards.
Both are still listed in Schedule 1 to the Weights and Measures Act 1985.
Watch the trap: “rood” is also an old spelling of the linear rod, and “perch” is both a length and an area.
In the system
1 rood = ¼ acre = 40 square perches; 1 square perch = 30¼ square yards