These unassuming items, dating to the 19th century, can tell us a great deal about our island’s history - or perhaps it is the empty space inside that interests us.
They are corn measures, simple open containers made of wood with metal bands, used for measuring dry goods by volume. The largest of these three measures is sized to hold a bushel (buissé) of wheat, a little less than 6 gallons imperial or 27 litres metric; the next smallest is the deneral (dén’raï), one sixth the size of the bushel; and the smallest is the half-deneral (d’mi-dén’raï), one twelfth of a bushel. A wooden tool called a strike or strickle was used to ensure fairness and accuracy. The strike was used to level off the wheat, which had been pressed into the measure with both hands.
These measurements are mentioned as early as the 13th century and do not completely correspond to the system of any other region. Although their precise values changed over the centuries, the States closely dictated the proper shapes and sizes for measures, and those which had been inspected and approved on behalf of the Royal Court were stamped with insignia. The bushel measure in the Museum collection has such a stamp, in the form of three lions; if the measure were improper, its use would have been legally penalised.
This precision was vital, as not only were bushels, quarters (quartier, 4 bushels) and their subdivisions used for commercial transactions, but also for measuring rents and rentes. The rente system involved annuities, measured usually in wheat, but sometimes other goods, that were used in buying property, taking out loans and partitioning inheritances; rentes could be paid in kind or in cash and became a dominant part of Guernsey’s economic life, with some islanders still owning their family rente books, which detail their position in the island-wide network of financial obligations. Manipulation of the rente system, there measured in their own system, was also a major factor in the Jersey Corn Riots. Along with the vergée (vergie) and the pot (pot), these measurements - housed in the empty space of these measures - take their place as an integral part of our cultural and economic history.
Jannick Brehaut, Museum Assistant, The Folk and Costume Museum.
(The Folk and Costume Museum is now closed for the season and will re-open on 31 March 2026)