The earliest known reference to quoits is from a royal diktat in 1361. However the game as we know it appeared in the late 18th century. The oldest club (in Liverpool) dates from 1795. They were gentlemen's clubs which banned gambling. Many pubs had quoits grounds. William Lawson reported in his 1873 'Tyneside Celebrities' that quoits was 'more followed on Tyneside and in the pit villages of Northumberland and Durham, than in any other place in the United Kingdom'. In 1881 the Association of Amateur Quoit Clubs for the North of England was formed. The North of England rules specificed an eleven yard throwing distance (short game) and a maximum quoit weight of 5 1/4 lbs. In Scotland the throwing distance was 21 yards. In Wales and the rest of England it was 18 (long game). By the 1920s quoits was in decline and had almost disappeared by the 1970s. The National Quoits Association, formed in 1986, includes four short game leagues in Yorkshire, one on Teeside, one in County Durham and two in Northumberland. The long game survives in Suffolk, Essex, Wales (8 clubs) and Scotland (3 clubs).

The earliest known reference to quoits is from a royal diktat in 1361. However the game as we know it appeared in the late 18th century. The oldest club (in Liverpool) dates from 1795. They were gentlemen's clubs which banned gambling. Many pubs had quoits grounds. William Lawson reported in his 1873 'Tyneside Celebrities' that quoits was 'more followed on Tyneside and in the pit villages of Northumberland and Durham, than in any other place in the United Kingdom'. In 1881 the Association of Amateur Quoit Clubs for the North of England was formed. The North of England rules specificed an eleven yard throwing distance (short game) and a maximum quoit weight of 5 1/4 lbs. In Scotland the throwing distance was 21 yards. In Wales and the rest of England it was 18 (long game). By the 1920s quoits was in decline and had almost disappeared by the 1970s. The National Quoits Association, formed in 1986, includes four short game leagues in Yorkshire, one on Teeside, one in County Durham and two in Northumberland. The long game survives in Suffolk, Essex, Wales (8 clubs) and Scotland (3 clubs).

The earliest known reference to quoits is from a royal diktat in 1361. However the game as we know it appeared in the late 18th century. The oldest club (in Liverpool) dates from 1795. They were gentlemen's clubs which banned gambling. Many pubs had quoits grounds. William Lawson reported in his 1873 'Tyneside Celebrities' that quoits was 'more followed on Tyneside and in the pit villages of Northumberland and Durham, than in any other place in the United Kingdom'. In 1881 the Association of Amateur Quoit Clubs for the North of England was formed. The North of England rules specificed an eleven yard throwing distance (short game) and a maximum quoit weight of 5 1/4 lbs. In Scotland the throwing distance was 21 yards. In Wales and the rest of England it was 18 (long game). By the 1920s quoits was in decline and had almost disappeared by the 1970s. The National Quoits Association, formed in 1986, includes four short game leagues in Yorkshire, one on Teeside, one in County Durham and two in Northumberland. The long game survives in Suffolk, Essex, Wales (8 clubs) and Scotland (3 clubs).

The earliest known reference to quoits is from a royal diktat in 1361. However the game as we know it appeared in the late 18th century. The oldest club (in Liverpool) dates from 1795. They were gentlemen's clubs which banned gambling. Many pubs had quoits grounds. William Lawson reported in his 1873 'Tyneside Celebrities' that quoits was 'more followed on Tyneside and in the pit villages of Northumberland and Durham, than in any other place in the United Kingdom'. In 1881 the Association of Amateur Quoit Clubs for the North of England was formed. The North of England rules specificed an eleven yard throwing distance (short game) and a maximum quoit weight of 5 1/4 lbs. In Scotland the throwing distance was 21 yards. In Wales and the rest of England it was 18 (long game). By the 1920s quoits was in decline and had almost disappeared by the 1970s. The National Quoits Association, formed in 1986, includes four short game leagues in Yorkshire, one on Teeside, one in County Durham and two in Northumberland. The long game survives in Suffolk, Essex, Wales (8 clubs) and Scotland (3 clubs).