Inventory no. 57576 - Former Display Label
GUNTER'S CHAIN c.1700
Iron and brass. Maker and date unknown. Of 100 links making
66 feet. Brass tags are attached at intervals of 10 links along the
chain. The holes punched in these tags indicate the number of
links (one hole representing 10 links).
Samuel Sturmy, in his Mariners Magazine ... of 1669 wrote:
"Master Gunters Chain is a Chain most used amongst
the Surveyors of this Age, and is always made to contain
4 Poles, and each Pole 25 Links, and each Link 7 inches
92/100 of an Inch. In measuring with this Chain you are
to take notice of only Chains and Links, saying, such a
Line measured by the Chain contains 64 Chains 45 Links,
or thus distingquished 64. 45."
There were other types of chains in use, such as Rathborne's
in which each pole or perch was divided into 100 links, and Wing's
in which each pole consisted of 20 links.
Lent by Christ Church
Other narratives:
- Practical surveying
- Orrery Collection: 1731 Inventory
- Accession Record : Extract from Annual Report for 1925
- Former Display Label - The Orrery Collection of Scientific Instruments
- Former Display Label - The Principal Makers of Instruments in the Orrery Collection