Mile
Length · Also called: statute mile, league
That is
1.609 km
1 mile (statute)
The other way round: 1 km is 0.6214 miles.
- Period: 1593 to today
- Region: England, later the UK
Values
| Value | That is | Period | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| statute | 1.609 km | 1593 to today | England, later the UK |
| old LondonApproximate: 8 furlongs of 625 feet, that is 5000 feet. | 1.524 km | to 1593 | England |
| Irish (plantation) | 2.048 km | 16th century to the 19th | Ireland |
| leagueThree statute miles by convention, but the league never had a precise English statutory definition and is best read as an approximate travelling distance. | 4.828 km | medieval to the 19th century | travel, sea, jurisdiction · England |
| ScotsSources give about 1807 m from 320 falls, 1806.9 m from the commonly quoted 1976 yards, and about 1814 m if the mile is derived from the Scots ell. The metric value turns entirely on the disputed length of the Scots ell. | 1.806–1.814 km | to 1685, in use to about 1800 | Scotland |
What the unit was used for
The statute mile is a compromise Parliament imposed rather than a measure anyone grew into.
The Roman mille passus, a thousand double paces, gave the name and roughly the size, but by about 1500 the old London mile was reckoned as eight furlongs of 625 feet, or 5000 feet.
The furlong could not be touched, because it was tied to the acre and the acre to the perch, and moving them would have unsettled every land title in England.
So the Act of 1593 kept the mile at eight furlongs and let the mile itself stretch to 5280 feet.
The Scots and Irish miles are longer because they were built on longer perches: the Irish mile of 2240 yards is eight furlongs of Irish perches of seven yards, 27 per cent more than the English mile.
The mile is still the lawful unit for UK road signs and speed limits.
In the system
1 statute mile = 8 furlongs = 80 chains = 1760 yards = 5280 feet