The chondrometer, a measuring instrument designed to determine the bulk density of grain, was donated to Bishop’s Stortford Museum in 1982. At the time it was listed as having been used in the Corn Exchange on Market Square. The brass instrument, in a handmade wooden case, would have been assembled to measure the weight of seed volumes using the calibrated brass bucket. The hardwood ‘roll’ was used to level the grain in the bucket correctly, then the measuring arm allowed the volume to be converted into weight. Different grains vary in density, so a bushel (defined as eight imperial gallons of…
