The Quintain at Offham
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The Quintain at Offham by Paul Harrop as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
The Quintain at Offham
Image: © Paul Harrop Taken: 8 Sep 2019
On the Green, next to Teston Road, a Grade II listed monument and arguably the village's main claim to fame. The Quintain is widely used as the settlement's symbol on other signs etc. It was a supposedly a Roman invention, popular in Elizabethan times as a means of testing the agility of horsemen. They practised their skill by charging at the Quintain (or tilting post) with a lance, hitting the broad part of the cross-bar and dodging out of the way before the other end with its heavy weight hit them on the back of the head. During the Second World War the Quintain was removed for safety as it could have assisted an invading army as a landmark. It was restored to its present place on 11 August 1945.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.290449
Longitude
0.375412