Topic: measuring with a pole

[lilyjean]

What is the length of a pole? and when you are measuring a new plot is it 10 by 10?

[Kepouros]

A pole (= a rod = a perch) is 5.5 yards. or 5.03 metres linear measurement.  Used as a measurement of area it means 5.5 yds x 5.5 yds.  A 10 pole plot would be 55 yds x 5.5yds

[saddad]

or variations thereon....  :-X

[lilyjean]

Thank you Kepouros! very helpful. I didn't think my plot was that size! This means I can put my name down for another plot.....I'm very happy! We have managed to claim back our allotment land which up to now has been rented out to a farmer. The waiting list for a plot has shot up this year. Anyhow I can now return to the committee and tell them the exact measurements  :)

[lincsyokel2]

A pole (= a rod = a perch) is 5.5 yards. or 5.03 metres linear measurement.  Used as a measurement of area it means 5.5 yds x 5.5 yds.  A 10 pole plot would be 55 yds x 5.5yds

a standard allotment is 17 poles, being the amount of ground reckoned to be needed to feed a family of four.

[Digeroo]

I thought a standard allotment was 10 poles.

[Unwashed]

a standard allotment is 17 poles, being the amount of ground reckoned to be needed to feed a family of four.

I haven't heard of 17 poles being any kind of standard.  Where does that come from?  Like Digeroo says, 10 poles was generally thought of as a standard or full plot a few years ago, though I think that is changing as people want, or are only able to get, much smaller plots.

The 1922 Allotments Act defined an allotment garden as an allotment not exceeding forty poles in extent which is wholly or mainly cultivated by the occupier for the production of vegetable or fruit crops for consumption by himself or his family.  An allotment garden is really what we think of when we talk about an allotment because the 1922 Act's clauses on security of tenure are useful, but there is no restriction on the size of plot that a council can let, and if it's a single plot of over 40 poles then common law tenure applies and there is no restriction on the plot being wholly or mainly cultivated by the occupier for the production of vegetable or fruit crops for consumption by himself or his family.

The only other reference to plot size is in the 1950 Act which limits the obligation on councils of populations bigger than 10,000 people to provide plots no bigger than 20 poles.

[cornykev]

10 poles was what I thought was a whole plot.    ???       ;D ;D ;D

[lincsyokel2]

a standard allotment is 17 poles, being the amount of ground reckoned to be needed to feed a family of four.

I haven't heard of 17 poles being any kind of standard.  Where does that come from?  Like Digeroo says, 10 poles was generally thought of as a standard or full plot a few years ago, though I think that is changing as people want, or are only able to get, much smaller plots.

The 1922 Allotments Act defined an allotment garden as an allotment not exceeding forty poles in extent which is wholly or mainly cultivated by the occupier for the production of vegetable or fruit crops for consumption by himself or his family.  An allotment garden is really what we think of when we talk about an allotment because the 1922 Act's clauses on security of tenure are useful, but there is no restriction on the size of plot that a council can let, and if it's a single plot of over 40 poles then common law tenure applies and there is no restriction on the plot being wholly or mainly cultivated by the occupier for the production of vegetable or fruit crops for consumption by himself or his family.

The only other reference to plot size is in the 1950 Act which limits the obligation on councils of populations bigger than 10,000 people to provide plots no bigger than 20 poles.

here in lincolnshire 17 poles is a  standard full plot, and this is the county built on farming, smallholdings and allotments :D  maybe other counties dont have as much spare land as we do :D

[Unwashed]

here in lincolnshire 17 poles is a  standard full plot, and this is the county built on farming, smallholdings and allotments :D  maybe other counties dont have as much spare land as we do :D

Our allotments are the same size, it's just your pole's shorter. ;)

[lincsyokel2]

here in lincolnshire 17 poles is a  standard full plot, and this is the county built on farming, smallholdings and allotments :D  maybe other counties dont have as much spare land as we do :D

Our allotme

:o my pole is as long as any mans. If you wernt disabled is challenge you to a duel :P

[lilyjean]

I found some useful info:

The size of a standard allotment is 10 rods, and is cultivated traditionally in rows working on a three year crop rotation.  Plot sizes are measured in rods, an old Anglo-Saxon unit so-called because it was the length of the rod used to control a team of eight oxen.

A rod is 5.5 yards (5.03metres).

A 10 rod allotment is 10 square rods in area, 10 x 5.5 x 5.5 = 302.5 sq yd (253 sq m).

Wow! how about that for history.....our amazing fore fathers!

[lincsyokel2]

I found some useful info:

The size of a standard allotment is 10 rods, and is cultivated traditionally in rows working on a three year crop rotation.  Plot sizes are measured in rods, an old Anglo-Saxon unit so-called because it was the length of the rod used to control a team of eight oxen.

A rod is 5.5 yards (5.03metres).

A 10 rod allotment is 10 square rods in area, 10 x 5.5 x 5.5 = 302.5 sq yd (253 sq m).

Wow! how about that for history.....our amazing fore fathers!

a rod was the length of a horse team and plough, the distance from the horses nose to the ploughmans heel.

[lilyjean]

Wow! thank you lincsyokel2! Brilliant.....I love it!!!  :)

[Karen Atkinson]

our plots are about 70 feet by 13 feet. What's that in poles then? (Maths never my strong point). Have we got really small allotments?

[lincsyokel2]

our plots are about 70 feet by 13 feet. What's that in poles then? (Maths never my strong point). Have we got really small allotments?

Pole: 5.5 yards or 30.25 sq yards

70ft x 13 ft = 910 square feet

9 square feet in a square yard

910  / 9 =  101 square yards

101 / 30.25  = 3.3 Poles


so imagine your plot five times wider than it is, thats a standard lincolnshire 17 pole plot.

[lilyjean]

our plots are about 70 feet by 13 feet. What's that in poles then? (Maths never my strong point). Have we got really small allotments?

Pole: 5.5 yards or 30.25 sq yards

70ft x 13 ft = 910 square feet

Thank you lincsyokel2......can you hear me screaming with joy. I just knew my plot was small....just short of 5 poles. There was I tonight, scratching my head thinking where did I go wrong. Because there aint enough space for all my veggies. The two men on the plots insisted that my plot was 10 poles.....somehow I felt this was not true. I quickly measured my plot and thought about asking on this site. But, thankfully your calculations was there for me to work it out. Hip hip horray...I will now put my name down on the waiting list.  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

9 square feet in a square yard

910  / 9 =  101 square yards

101 / 30.25  = 3.3 Poles


so imagine your plot five times wider than it is, thats a standard lincolnshire 17 pole plot.

[Karen Atkinson]

Thanks as well lincsyokel2 - gosh, ours are really tiny then - guess it's the demand here that determines size. Some unfortunate people have even been allocated half a plot here! Makes for interesting growing though we've not done so bad for such a  small space actually -  for the first year anyway. Haven't had to buy potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, onions, raspberries for some time now.

[lincsyokel2]

i cant imagine how you do it, i struggle to get all i want on 17 poles.

You must be a planning genius, or one of the packers on the Tokyo Underground.