With
modern man now using the metric system there is sometimes a need to
remember what the old units of measurement were, the common and not
so common.
The UK table should really be the English table as some very old measurements
were slightly different in Scotland, Ireland or Wales.
The metric conversions shown are approximate, see the main
tables for accurate factors.
Imperial
- UK Units of Length
1 inch ( in.
or " )
=
about the width
of a thumb
= 25.4 mm
12 inches ( ins.)
=
1 foot
about the length
of a size 10 shoe
= 305 mm
3 feet ( ft.
)
=
1 yard
about from nose
to stretched finger
= 0.91 m
1760 yards (yds)
=
1 mile ( m )
about 15 minutes
walking
= 1.61 km
Less common units
25 links
=
1 rod
for measuring
land
= 5m
4 rod or perch
=
1 chain ( ch
)
surveying; length
of a cricket pitch
= 20m
10 chains
=
1 furlong ( fg
)
length of a furrow;
horse racing
= 200m
8 furlongs
=
1 mile ( m )
= 1610m
Imperial
- UK units of Area
144 square inch
(sq.in)
=
1 sq.foot
about a paper
napkin
= 0.093 m2
9 square feet
( sq.ft)
=
1 sq.yard
about the size
of a card table
= 0.84 m2
4840 sq.yards
(sq.yds)
=
1 acre
about a football
pitch
= 4047 m2
Less common units
30 1/4
sq.yds
=
1 pole (P)
also called a
square pole
= 25.3 m2
40 poles
=
1 rood (R)
= 1012 m2
4 roods
=
1 acre
= 0.4 hectare
Imperial
- UK units of Mass or Weight
16 drams ( dr
)
=
1 ounce
a tablespoon
of sugar
= 28 grams
16 ounces ( ozs.)
=
1 pound
a bag of sugar
= 0.45 kg
14 pounds ( lbs)
=
1 stone
used in body
weight
= 6.35 kg
2 stone
=
1 quarter
less common unit
= 12.7 kg
4 quarters
=
1 hundredweight
= 112 lb; bag
of cement.
= 50.8 kg
20 hundredweight
(cwt)
=
1 ton
= 2240 lb.; about
14 men
= 1.016 tonne
Imperial
- UK units of Capacity
5 fluid ounces
=
1 gill
= 142 ml
20 fluid ounces
=
1 pint
an english beer
= 568 ml
2 pints( pts.)
=
1 quart
a german beer
= 1.1 L
4
quarts ( qrt )
=
1
gallon
a
large can of paint, maybe
=
4.546 L
less common units
2 gallons ( gals
)
=
1 peck
'pick a peck
of pickled pepper'
= 9.1 L
4 pecks
=
1 bushel
= 8 gals; bulk
food measure
= 36.4 L
Note:- In
USA 16 fluid ounces = 1 pint = 0.473 litre and US gallon
= 3.785 litre
Imperial
- UK units of Volume
1728 cubic inches
=
1 cu.foot
cu.in to cu.ft
=
0.028 m3
27 cubic feet
=
1 cu.yard
cu.yd.
=
0.76 m3
Imperial
- UK units, coins and notes of Old Money, pre Feb 1971
2 farthings
=
1 halfpenny
pronounced
'hapepenny'
= 0.208p
4 farthings
=
1 penny ( d )
Latin - denarius
= 0.417p
3 pennies
=
1 threepenny
bit
used to be 'silver',
then bronze
= 1.25p
6 pennies
=
1 sixpenny piece
first coin in
nickel
= 2.5p
12 pennies
=
1 shilling (
s )
a bob as in 'bob a job'
= 5p
2
shillings
=
1
florin
a
tenth of a pound = metric!
=
10p
2s - 6d; 2/6d
=
1 half crown
biggest coin
in regular use
= 12.5p
10
shillings
=
1
ten 'bob' note
first in paper
money
=
50p
20
shillings
=
1
pound note (quid)
also £5
and £10 notes
=
£1
less common units
5 shillings
=
1 crown
= 25p
21 shillings
=
1 guinea
to buy horses
= £1.05
4 pennies
=
1 groat
13th centuary
coin
= 1.7p
£ s
d or L s d is a term for pounds, shillings and pence
Imperial
- UK - US and current metric units of Time
60
seconds ( secs, " )
=
1
minute
There
are proposals for decimalised time with a day devided into
10, 100, 1000, etc.