The English system of weights and measures, like so much of England’s history, began in Wessex. The Romans had a highly developed system of weights and measures, which was in use throughout the empire. But when they left in the early 5th century, these rapidly fell into disuse. Germanic settlers had their own units of measurement, imported from the continent, but there was little uniformity.
King Edgar the Peaceable was determined to change this. Shortly after his coronation in 973, he issued a decree standardising dry measures in units derived from a bushel (8 dry gallons), based on a prototype kept in his capital at Winchester. When the Bastard invaded, he decided not to change the measurements, though he had the bushel moved to That London.
Even today, a yardstick, from the reign of Henry I and stamped with the mark of Elizabeth I, can be found in the city museum. along with standard weights dating from 1357 and a bronze replica of the original bushel from 1497. These form the basis of the imperial system of measurements still used in Britain until the advent of metrication, and (in slightly modified form) in the USA today. Whether they will be reintroduced here remains to be seen.