How many yards are in one chain?

One chain contains exactly 22 yards. This was set by Edmund Gunter when he designed his surveying chain in 1620, making it practical for calculating acreage since 10 square chains equal one acre.

Is the chain still used today?

The chain is largely obsolete for new measurements, but it persists in older land records, cricket (the pitch is one chain long), and horse racing in some countries. Surveyors occasionally encounter chain measurements when researching historical property boundaries.

What is the relationship between chains, furlongs, and miles?

Ten chains make one furlong (220 yards), and 80 chains make one mile (1,760 yards). This decimal relationship within the imperial system is one of its rare clean ratios, designed deliberately by Gunter for surveying convenience.

Yards to Chains (yd to ch) Converter

1 yd = 0.0455 ch

1 Yard equals 0.0455 Chains (1 yd = 0.0455 ch). Convert Yards to Chains with formula, table, and examples.

One yard equals exactly 1/22 of a chain, or approximately 0.04545 chains. The chain, invented by English mathematician Edmund Gunter in 1620, measures exactly 22 yards (66 feet). Both units belong to the imperial system, but while the yard remains in everyday American use, the chain survives primarily in land surveying records and British cricket pitch measurements.

How to Convert Yards to Chains

ch = yd ÷ 22

Divide the value in Yards by 22

Take your value in Yards
Divide by 22
Read the result in Chains

Common Yards to Chains Conversions

Yards (yd)	Chains (ch)	Status
1 yd	0.0455 ch
2 yd	0.0909 ch
5 yd	0.2273 ch
10 yd	0.4545 ch
22 yd	1 ch
50 yd	2.2727 ch
100 yd	4.5455 ch
220 yd	10 ch
440 yd	20 ch
500 yd	22.7273 ch
1,000 yd	45.4545 ch
1,760 yd	80 ch
5,000 yd	227.2727 ch
10,000 yd	454.5455 ch

Good to Know About Yards to Chains Conversion

Edmund Gunter designed his chain specifically so that calculations for land area would come out cleanly: a strip of land 1 chain wide and 10 chains long equals exactly 1 acre. This made the chain the backbone of English and American land surveying for over 300 years. When Thomas Jefferson organized the US Public Land Survey System, chains were the standard tool, and their legacy persists in property descriptions across the nation.

Yards to Chains: What You Need to Know

A standard cricket pitch is exactly one chain (22 yards) long - a dimension that has not changed since the 1700s. In American land surveying, 80 chains make one mile, and 10 square chains equal one acre. Many modern property boundaries in the United States were originally recorded in chains and still appear that way in county deed offices, requiring conversion to yards or feet for practical fieldwork.

What is a Yard? yd

An imperial unit of length equal to 3 feet or 0.9144 meters. Used in American football, golf, and fabric measurement.

Imperial Us-customary American football golf fabric

Learn more about Yard →

What is a Chain? ch

Exactly 66 feet or 4 rods (20.1168 m). Invented by Edmund Gunter for land surveying. 80 chains make one mile. Still used in US public land surveys.

Imperial land surveying US public land

Learn more about Chain →

Going the other way? Use our Chains to Yards converter.

Yards to Chains FAQ

One chain contains exactly 22 yards. This was set by Edmund Gunter when he designed his surveying chain in 1620, making it practical for calculating acreage since 10 square chains equal one acre.
The chain is largely obsolete for new measurements, but it persists in older land records, cricket (the pitch is one chain long), and horse racing in some countries. Surveyors occasionally encounter chain measurements when researching historical property boundaries.
Ten chains make one furlong (220 yards), and 80 chains make one mile (1,760 yards). This decimal relationship within the imperial system is one of its rare clean ratios, designed deliberately by Gunter for surveying convenience.

Non-Frequently Asked Questions About Yards to Chains

Questions nobody should ask - but someone did.

For land ownership, arguably yes. Gunter's 22-yard chain shaped property boundaries across the entire British Empire and the American frontier. Every 160-acre homestead claim, every county boundary, and every cricket pitch owes its dimensions to a 17th-century mathematician and his clever piece of linked metal.
Technically, every ball bowled on the 22-yard pitch travels at least one chain, and every run scored adds two chains to the batter's tally. A century (100 runs) means the batters have collectively sprinted 200 chains - or 2.5 miles. Cricket really is a chain reaction, just a very slow one.
Not anymore. A Gunter chain was a specific surveying tool with 100 links, each 7.92 inches long, connected by rings. Hardware stores sell very different chains. You could build one yourself, but the 100 links need to total exactly 22 yards - a project better suited for a machinist than a weekend DIYer.