A Very British Guide to the Imperial Standards of Length (or: How the Victorians Measured Up in Trafalgar Square)

📍 Where Are They?

Wander around Trafalgar Square — dodging tourists, TikTok dancers, and determined pigeons — and make your way to the North Terrace of the square, right by the steps of the National Gallery. Here, embedded in the stone balustrade (that’s the posh term for a stone railing), you’ll find a curious set of brass strips quietly preserving Britain’s most imperial tradition: how long things ought to be.

📏 What Are They?

These are the Imperial Standards of Length, installed in 1876, back when Queen Victoria was still ruling the roost and everything from your bootlaces to your cannonballs had to meet proper imperial specifications. These embedded standards were created to:

• Demonstrate exact measurements to the public
• Allow people to check the accuracy of their rulers, yardsticks, or tape measures
• Let passersby mutter, “Ah yes, that is what a yard looks like,” while stroking their beards or moustaches (both mandatory in 1876)

🛠️ The Actual Measures on Display

The inscriptions are beautifully engraved in brass strips, and each represents a different Imperial unit. Here’s what you’ll find:

• 1 Foot – A solid 12 inches of old-school precision. Approximately the length of a decent subway sandwich or a particularly polite corgi.
• 2 Feet
• 1 Yard – That’s 3 feet for those doing the mental maths. Or the length of a traditional walking cane, which was the Victorian equivalent of a Fitbit.
• 27 inches
• 33 inches
• 36 inches – This is another yard, in case you forgot.
• Imperial Standard Yard (Defined) – A special strip showing the absolute official yard, certified by Parliament. If yards had royalty, this would be the King Yard.
• 1 Link – This is the smallest of the lot, measuring 7.92 inches. It’s part of Gunter’s Chain — a charmingly bonkers surveying system from the 1600s.

🧪 Why Were These Here?

Because Victorians loved precision. If you ran a market stall or made measuring tapes or rulers, you were expected to know exactly what a yard was, or else the Weights and Measures Inspectors might come for you — the 19th-century equivalent of the accuracy police.

The idea was that anyone could come to Trafalgar Square and check their own measuring instruments against the official government standard. Like a DIY calibration station, but in a much fancier setting.

🧐 Fun Facts & Silly Comparisons

• These standards were installed by the Board of Trade – proving once again that nothing says “fun day out” like a good Board of Trade decision.
• 1 Yard = 0.9144 metres, but don’t say that too loudly in front of the Imperial purists.
• The “Link” is part of Gunter’s Chain, which had 100 links and was 66 feet long. Gunter basically invented a measuring tape for very large fields.
• Queen Victoria’s own height? About 5 feet, so that’s roughly five of the brass foot measures stacked like a very determined empress.
• The standards were re-cut in 1952, because apparently even brass needs a tune-up after a century of British weather.

📸 Tourist Tips

• It’s easy to miss, so look closely at the balustrade rail near the central staircase. The measurements are horizontal strips along the stone ledge.
• Great for an Instagram post captioned: “Just checking myself before I wreck myself #StandardLengths”
• Try bringing a measuring tape for fun (just don’t block the steps — the lions don’t like crowds).

🎓 In Conclusion: Measuring Up to History

The Imperial Standards of Length aren’t just strips of brass — they’re a monument to British fastidiousness, a small-but-proud symbol of how seriously we take inches, feet, and yards.

So next time you’re in Trafalgar Square, impress your companions by declaring, “Let’s go see the official Victorian yardsticks!”
Just don’t trip over someone taking a selfie with a lion on the way.