Question 1

Why does a mile have 5,280 feet?

Accepted Answer

The Roman mile was a thousand paces, roughly 5,000 feet. English farmers measured land in furlongs of 660 feet, and in 1593 Parliament chose to make the mile a whole number of furlongs rather than a round number of feet. Eight furlongs gives 5,280.

Question 2

How long is a furlong?

Accepted Answer

220 yards, or 201.168 metres. The name means furrow long, the distance an ox team could plough before resting. British racecourses still mark distances in furlongs.

Question 3

How long is a cricket pitch?

Accepted Answer

Exactly one chain, which is 22 yards or 20.1168 metres. The pitch was set to the surveyor’s chain and has never changed.

Question 4

What is the difference between a rod, a pole and a perch?

Accepted Answer

Nothing. They are three regional names for the same surveying length of 16.5 feet. Forty square perches make a rood, and four roods make an acre.

Question 5

Why are horses measured in hands?

Accepted Answer

A hand is four inches, originally the width of a palm, making it a measure any horse trader could reproduce without equipment. A horse of 16.2 hands is 16 hands and 2 inches, not 16.2 hands as a decimal.

Question 6

What is a barleycorn used for today?

Accepted Answer

UK and US shoe sizes still advance by one barleycorn, a third of an inch, per size. It is the last everyday survival of a unit standardised in 1324.

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