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From: "Brian L. Cartwright" <>
Subject: Re: Bedford Co. Deeds/Wills - HANEY /WERTZ / BRUNNER /WORLEY /NORTHCRAFT
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 00:44:15 -0500
References: <001301c0868e$4c85f7a0$1b55fe3f@oemcomputer>


>
> In land records "perches" as a unit of measurement for land are
mentioned.
> What are perches?

A perch as a linear unit is 16.5 feet in length.

A perch is also a unit of area, 160 perches to an acre. (I'm looking at a
survey, the property has 97a 66ps, same as 97.4125 acres)

Here's how:
A mile is 5280 feet, a square mile is 27,878,400 square feet.
Cut that square mile into four equal squares, then each quarter into four
equal squares, then each sixteenth into four equal squares.
That 1/64 of a square mile is then called ten acres, 640 acres to a square
mile (1 acre = 43,560 sqft)

Now let's repeat, take an acre and quarter it, then once again into
sixteenths. That's 10 perches, 160 to an acre. (1 perch = 272.25 sqft)
take the square root of 272.25, giving 16.5 feet for a linear perch, which
was the distance used for measuring the boundary of a property.

Brian Cartwright

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