A weigh house or weighing house is a public building at or with in which goods were weighed. Most of these buildings were built before 1800, prior to the establishment of international standards for weights and were often large and representative structures, situated near the market square, town hall and prominent sacred buildings in town centre. Weigh house in Gouda (1668) As public control of the weight of goods was very important, they were run by local authorities who would also use them for the levying of taxes on goods transported through or sold within the city. Throughout most of Europe, this building was a multifunctional trade hall and would contain diverse functions related to trade and commerce. Weigh house in Gouda (1668) The weigh house had two functions: to determine the weight of a given item in addition to levying and collecting tax upon it. The first function, the need to precisely determine the weight of a commodity, was of particular importance in the pre-industrial period, where regional differences regarding the calculations of measures and weights existed and there were few large instruments for weighing available. The second function concerned with the need to control and regulate access to trade.In the 19th century, the public scale declined in importance due to the standardization of weights and measures in addition to the replacement of direct payment of duties by indirect methods of tax collection. Public scales most likely existed in ancient Egypt. During the Middle Ages in Europe, the right to levy tax based upon weight was a source of income which belonged to the rights of the sovereign, who could bestow it to a city or sell in perpetuity. As a rule, the right to levy taxes based upon the weight of merchandise was connected to the local market taxes as well as the provision of the staple right. The latter required travelling merchants to offer their goods for sale for a period of time when they passed through a city and also to have them weighed. Conversely, small settlements like villages were generally prohibited from maintaining public scales.