Vergée

A vergée (French pronunciation: [vɛʁʒe], alternative spellings vergie, vrégie) is a unit of land area, a quarter of the old French arpent. The term derives from Latin virga (rod).^[1] Compare French verge (yard).

Tables of conversion between Jersey vergées and English acres from an 1891 almanac

In the Channel Islands, it is a standard measure of land, but the statutory definition differs between the bailiwicks.

• In France, a vergée was 12,100 square Paris feet (1,276.8 m²), equal to 25 square perches. The surveying perch measured 22 French feet.
• In French North America, it was also equal to 25 square perches, but the royal perch of 18 feet was used, yielding a vergée of 8100 square feet (854.7 m²)
• In Guernsey, a vergée (Guernésiais: vergie) is 17,640 square feet (1,639 m²). It is 40 (square) Guernsey perches. A Guernsey perch (also spelt perque) is 21 feet by 21 feet.^[1][2]
• In Jersey, a vergée (Jèrriais: vrégie) is 19,360 square feet (1,798.6 m²). It is 40 (square) Jersey perches. A Jersey perch (also spelt pèrque) is a square 24 pied de perche on each side (i.e. a square 22 imperial feet on each side).^[3]

An inscribed stone describes this 11 vergée 25 perch clos des pauvres in Jersey

Conversions

1 vergée (Guernsey) is equivalent to:

• 1 638.80963 m²
• 0.404958678 acres

1 vergée (Jersey) is equivalent to:

• 1,798.60285 m²
• 0.444444444 acres

See also

• Units of measurement in France before the French Revolution
• Virgate

References

1. Cooper, Trevor (19 April 2012). "Out in the fields of gold". Guernsey Press. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
2. De Garis, Marie (1 January 1982). Dictiounnaire Angllais-Guernésiais. Phillimore & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-0850334623.
3. Unusual Jersey Measures Archived July 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine