A Quintain at Offham, Kent. UK
Posted by: 
dave-harris
N 51° 17.430 E 000° 22.529
31U E 317004 N 5685401
The last Quintain in the UK in its original location
Waymark Code: WMEFJC
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/22/2012
Views: 4
This Quintain in Offham dates back to the medieval times. A Quintain consists of a wooden post around eight feet in height with a freely-rotating arm on the top. One end of the arm is flat (the "eye"), with the other used to attach heavy objects such as a leather pack, or a bag of sand. In a sport dating back to perhaps Roman times, a horseman would ride at the quintain at full pace with his lance extended to strike the flat end. Should the horseman not be riding sufficiently quickly, the arm would swing round and the heavy object knock him off his horse. (from Wikipedia)
Apart from the years during the second world war, where it was removed and stored for safety, this Quintain is still in its original position it was all those years ago. It is said to be the only one left that is still in its original location. This is the last one of its kind.
The Quintain is still used today, not for jousting practice, but is the centre piece for the May Day celebrations in the village.
A few feet away from the Quintain there is a large stone plaque with the following description cut into the stone.
"The pastime - a Roman exercise - was for the youth on horseback to run at is as fast as possible and hit the board part in the centre with much force. He that by chance hit it not at all was treated with loud peals of derision; He who did hit made the best use of his swiftness less he should have a sound blow on his neck from the bag of sand which instantly swung around from the other end of the quintain. The great design of this sport was to try the agility of both horse & man to break the board which whoever did he was accounted chief of the day's sport"
There is free roadside parking alongside the village green where this is located.