A set of local standard imperial weights used by weights and measure inspectors up until 1974 have been donated to the Radnorshire Museum.
Powys County Council’s Trading Standards Service has donated the weights to the council-run museum on World Metrology Day, which took place on Thursday 20 May.
The set of brass imperial standard weights were commissioned by the then Radnor County Council in the late 1800s and remained in use until local government reorganisation in 1974. Today, the council maintains a set of local standard metric weights to ensure the accuracy of weights and measures in the county.
World Metrology Day celebrates the impact of measurement on our daily lives – no part of which is untouched by this essential, and largely hidden, aspect of modern society. The theme for this year concentrates on how measurement influences science and stimulate innovation.
Cllr Graham Brown, board member responsible for Public Protection, said: “Legal weights and measures are fundamental to a sustainable trading economy, the concept of sale and purchase cannot exist without them.
“During their day, these weights were the cornerstone of consumer protection but also ensured that businesses traded in a fair marketplace. We are delighted to be handing over a piece of weights and measure history to Radnorshire Museum for them to showcase their importance to the county when they were being used.”
Heather Pegg, Museum Curator at Radnorshire Museum, said: “We’re delighted that the council’s Trading Standards Service has donated these imperial weights to the museum.
“We now have a comprehensive collection thanks to the addition of these beautifully crafted weights, which will be an important feature of the museum’s collection for many years to come.”
