Object number
61/170
Description
Stick used for measuring horses. Cane handle with extendable brass measuring scale, measuring in centimetres and inches. Used at Peppard Common.
This is a measuring stick, used for measuring horses. It consists of a cane handle with extendable brass measuring scale, measuring in both centimetres and inches. It was used at Peppard Common, Oxfordshire.
Physical description
Stick used for measuring horses: wood; metal; good condition
Label Text
Walking sticks, mid-twentieth century. The long examples carved from single pieces of wood are crooks, a type synonymous with sheep farming. One features a handle with the bark removed. It was made by Warwick de Grey, a shepherd on Farnborough Downs Farm, near Wantage, Oxfordshire. The example with the bird’s head handle comes from Kent. It has been engraved with the initials 'R.C.’, possibly relating to the owner’s name or perhaps to Roman Catholicism. The walking cane contains a brass scale. It was used to measure horses near Henley-On-Thames, Oxfordshire. The ordinary-looking walking stick has a hoe blade on the tip. It was probably made for a Berkshire farmer who wanted to weed crops whilst walking their land. MERL 95/42, MERL 63/106, MERL 61/170, MERL 2010/165.
Archival history
MERL 'Handwritten catalogue' form – 'MEASURING STICK // A stick used for measuring horses from Peppard, Oxfordshire. // [pencil sketch] // *90.5cm long when closed // *174cm long when fully extended. // Scale on measuring stick in both centimetres and inches. // Brass // Cane'
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