Cumbria's historic weights and measures could bring £30,000 windfall (From The Westmorland Gazette)
When news happens, text KENEWS and your photos and videos to 80360. Or contact us by email or phone.
Cumbria's historic weights and measures could bring £30,000 windfall
9:24am Tuesday 25th September 2012 in News
Megan Wheeler of Bonhams inspecting some of the items
ONE of the largest collections of weighing and measuring equipment is to be auctioned, potentially raising tens of thousands of pounds for Cumbria County Council.
The weights, measures, scales and balances - rendered obsolete by time, technology and metrication - were inherited by the authority from several councils as a result of local government reorganisation.
The auctioneer Bonhams estimates the collection, which dates back to the 1824 Weights and Measures Act, could tempt UK and American collectors to part with as much as £30,000.
Bonhams metalwork specialist Megan Wheeler, who spent weeks cataloguing the collection, said: “It is probably the largest collection of post 1824 weights and measures to reach the market for some considerable time with a fascinating story to tell.”
She said the star lot was a set of George 1V Imperial Standard bronze alloy measures and matching yardstick for the County of Westmorland, dated 1824. The collection will be sold by Bonhams at its Chester saleroom on October 18.
