Editing Mile (section)

===English===
{{See also|yard}}

The "'''old [[English units|English]] mile'''" of the [[medieval England|medieval]] and [[Early Modern England|early modern period]]s varied but seems to have measured about 1.3&nbsp;[[#International|international&nbsp;miles]] (2.1&nbsp;km).{{sfnp|Andrews|2003|p=70}}{{sfnp|Evans|1975|p=259}} The old English mile varied over time and location within England.{{sfnp|Evans|1975|p=259}} The old English mile has also been defined as 79,200 or 79,320 inches (1.25 or 1.2519 statute miles).{{sfnp|Chaney|1911|p=484}} The English long continued the Roman computations of the mile as 5,000 feet, 1,000 [[pace (unit)|paces]], or 8 longer divisions, which they equated with their "[[furrow]]'s length" or [[furlong]].{{sfnp|Klein|1988|p=69}}

The origins of English units are "extremely vague and uncertain",{{sfnp|Chisholm|1864|p=8}} but seem to have been a combination of the [[Roman units|Roman system]] with native [[Welsh units|British]] and Germanic systems both derived from multiples of the [[barleycorn (unit)|barleycorn]].{{refn|group=n|The {{c.|lk=no|1300}} [[Composition of Yards and Perches]], a [[statutes of uncertain date|statute of uncertain date]] usually reckoned as an enactment of [[Edward I of England|Edward&nbsp;I]]{{sfn|NPL}} or [[Edward II of England|II]],{{sfnp|Chisholm|1864|p=8}} notionally continued to derive English units from three barleycorns "dry and round" to the inch{{sfn|NPL}} and this statute remained in force until the 1824 [[Weights and Measures Acts of the United Kingdom|Weights and Measures Act]] establishing the [[Imperial units|Imperial system]]. In practice, official measures were verified using the standards at the Exchequer or simply ignored.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1864|p=37}}}} Probably by the reign of [[Edgar, King of England|Edgar]] in the 10th century, the nominal [[prototype]] [[standard (metrology)|physical standard]] of English length was an arm-length iron bar (a yardstick) held by the [[kings of England|king]] at [[Winchester]];{{sfn|NPL}}{{sfnp|Chisholm|1864|p=8}} the foot was then one-third of its length. [[Henry I of England|Henry&nbsp;I]] was said to have made a new standard in 1101 based on his own arm.<!--Sic. No nose involved.-->{{sfnp|Chisholm|1864|p=8}} Following the issuance of [[Magna Carta]] in 1215, the [[baron (UK)|baron]]s of [[English Parliament|Parliament]] directed [[John Lackland|John]] and his son to keep the [[list of English kings|king]]'s standard measure (''{{lang|la|Mensura Domini Regis}}'') and [[Troy pound|weight]] at the [[Exchequer]],{{sfnp|Chisholm|1864|p=8}} which thereafter verified local standards until its abolition in the 19th century. New [[brass]] standards are known to have been constructed under [[Henry VII of England|Henry&nbsp;VII]] and [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth&nbsp;I]].{{sfnp|Chisholm|1864|p=4}}

Arnold's {{c.|lk=no|1500}} ''Customs of London'' recorded a mile shorter than previous ones, coming to 0.947&nbsp;international&nbsp;miles (5,000 feet) or 1.524&nbsp;km.{{sfnp|Klein|1988|p=69}}

====Statute====
{{Redirect|Statute mile|the current statute mile in the United Kingdom|#International|the statute mile in the United States|#US survey}}
{{anchor|Statute mile}} <!--linked from statute mile, land miles, etc. so kindly maintain anchor link.-->
The English '''statute mile''' was established by a [[Weights and Measures Acts of the United Kingdom|Weights and Measures]] [[Act of Parliament]] in 1593 during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;I]]. The act on the [[Composition of Yards and Perches]] had shortened the length of the foot and its associated measures, causing the two methods of determining the mile to diverge.{{sfnp|Zupko|1977|pp=10–11, 20–21}} Owing to the importance of the surveyor's [[rod (unit)|rod]] in deeds and [[surveying]] undertaken under [[Henry VIII of England|Henry&nbsp;VIII]],{{sfnp|Burke|1978|loc=Ch.&nbsp;9}} decreasing the length of the rod by {{frac|1|11}} would have amounted to a significant [[land tax|tax]] increase. Parliament instead opted to maintain the mile of 8 [[furlongs]] (which were derived from the rod) and to increase the number of feet per mile from the old Roman value.{{sfnp|Adams|1990}} The applicable passage of the statute reads: "A Mile shall contain eight Furlongs, every Furlong forty Poles,{{refn|group=n|"Pole" being another name for the [[rod (unit)|rod]].}} and every Pole shall contain sixteen Foot and {{not a typo|an}} half."{{refn|Act 35 {{abbr|Eliz.&nbsp;I|Elizabeth I}} {{abbr|cap.|Chapter}} 6, {{abbr|s.|section}} 8.<ref name="statutes at large">{{cite book|title=Statutes at large from the first year of King Edward the fourth to the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2KZFAAAAcAAJ |access-date=29 November 2011|volume=II |year=1763|page=676}}</ref>}} The statute mile therefore contained 5,280&nbsp;feet or 1,760&nbsp;yards.{{sfnp|Klein|1988|p=69}} The distance was not uniformly adopted. [[Robert Morden]] had multiple scales on his 17th-century maps which included continuing local values: his map of [[Hampshire]], for example, bore two different "miles" with a ratio of {{nowrap|1&thinsp;:&thinsp;1.23}}{{sfnp|Norgate|1998}} and his map of [[Dorset]] had three scales with a ratio of {{nowrap|1&thinsp;:&thinsp;1.23&thinsp;:&thinsp;1.41}}.{{sfnp|Morden|1695}} In both cases, the traditional local units remained longer than the statute mile. The English statute mile was superseded in 1959 by the [[#International|international mile]] by international agreement.