Within a stone's throw of somewhere

Question

I was reading a book - "Steps to Understanding" by L.A. Hill - when i saw the sentence below:

One day he saw an advertisement for a suitable house in Hampshire which was claimed to be within a stone's throw of a railway station.

I know what "throw" means. I was expecting to see a kind of distance determiner after the word "within".
But what does exactly mean to be "within a stone's throw of somewhere"? How much is this distance? What does it mean? Does it mean that If someone throws a stone from the train station, The house is in the range of the distance which the stone travels?

Answer 1

No, it's not meant to be taken literally. It simply means close (by). There is no fixed distance that constitutes a "stone's throw", much like how "close" or "near" are not fixed.

within a stone's throw (of something) and (just) a stone's throw away (from something); (just) a stone's throw (from something)
Fig. very close (to something). (Possibly as close as the distance one could throw a stone. It usually refers to a distance much greater than one could throw a stone.) The police department was located within a stone's throw of our house. We live in Carbondale, and that's just a stone's throw away from the Mississippi River. Come visit. We live just a stone's throw away.
(TFD)

Answer 2

"stone's throw" refers to a short distance away. Obviously most of us can't throw a stone too far, so people use this phrase to describe two places that are not far apart.

a stone’s throw (away)
​ a short distance:

The animal was sitting just a stone's throw away from us.

The lodge is within a stone’s throw of the ski slopes.

Source: Cambridge Dictionary