Churchmouse: Glossary of Terms


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Abacus

(Literally-a tablet) A flat slab forming the top of a capital.

Abutment

The meeting of an arch or vault with its solid lateral support, or the support itself.

Acanthus

Formalised leaf ornament with thick vein and frilled edge, e. g. on a Corinthian capital.

Achievement

In heraldry, a complete display of armorial bearings of arms. See hatchment also.

Acroterion.

(Literally- a peak) Plinth for a statue or ornament placed at the apex or ends of a pediment: also loosely and more usually, both the plinths and what stands on them.

Addorsed.

A description of two figures placed symmetrically back to back.

Afronted.

Description of two figures placed symmetrically face to face.

Aisle

(Literally ‘A wing’) Subsidiary space alongside the nave, choir or transept of a church, separated from it by columns or piers.

Altar.

Elevated slab consecrated for the celebration of the Eucharist Sometimes in a form called a communion Table.

Altarpiece.

See retable.

Ambulatory.

(Literally -walkway) An aisle round the sanctuary, sometimes surrounding an apse and therefore semi circular or Polygonal in plan.

Amorin.

See Putto.

Annulet.

(Literally a ring) Shaft - ring. See shaft.

Apron.

A raised panel beneath a window or at the base of a wall monument or tablet. Sometimes shaped and decorated.

Arcade

A series of arches supported by piers or columns.

Blind Arcade.

(Arcading) Applies to the surface of a wall decorated by columns and arches, usually in relief. and in mediaeval churches.

Architectural styles and their approximate dates.

 
Saxon     700-1066  
Norman     1066-1145  
Transitional     1145-1190  
Early English \ all 1190-1300  
Decorated } three 1300-1350  
Perpendicular / gothic 1350-1500  

Ashlar

Masonry of large blocks wrought to even faces and square edges.

Aumbry.

Recess or cupboard to hold sacred vessels for the mass.

Basilica.

(Literally a Royal Building) An aisled building with a clerestory, most often a church. (Also mostly with a multi-domed roof and can be of immense size.

Beak-Head,

An ornament found in Carved Norman doorways, shaped like a grotesque bird or beast with beaks. Usually biting into a roll-moulding.

Belfry.

A bell turret set upon a roof or gable (Sometimes known as a Bellcote). A chamber or stage in a tower where bells are hung. Also a bell tower in a general sense.

Bracket.

Small supporting piece of stone, etc, to carry a projecting horizontal member. It often appears on large monuments in a fancy decorated form with a compound curved outline and is then known as a console.

Brass

In the context used here this means a plate or piece of brass plate engraved and used to portray a person or item and fastened onto a grave slab or wall .Engraved with text or symbolic portrayal.

Buttress

A vertical member projecting from a wall to stabilise or resist the lateral thrust of an arch, roof or vault or building wall especially a church tower. Can be used in various forms.

Flying Buttress.

A buttress attached to the wall of a building by an arch or half arch with the aim of spreading and supporting the thrust load.

Cable Moulding.

(Sometimes Rope Moulding) Originally a Norman moulding imitating the twisted strands of a rope.

Canopy.

Projecting sounding board over a pulpit or a hood or projection over an altar, niche statue etc.

Capital

The top, head or crowning feature of a column or pilaster. Very often ornately decorated.

Cartouche.

A tablet with an ornate scroll frame. Usually of elliptical shape and bearing a coat of arms or inscription, often found above monuments. Many have an indication of a nose and eyes in the top or bottom of the scrollwork. An example of a cartouche bearing a coat of arms is at the top of the wall monument to Alice, Lady Brownlowe at Belton

Cast Iron

A hard and brittle Iron (eg Pipe Iron Grade B.) cast in a mould to a required shape. Used in this context for casting in the shape of crosses etc for use as grave markers.

Cenotaph.

(Literally -empty tomb.) A funerary monument which is not a burying place.

Chancel

(Literally an enclosure) An eastern arm or that part of the east end of a church set apart for the use of the officiating clergy. In cathedrals or monastic churches it can contain the choir.

Chantry Chapel.

Medieval chapel endowed for the celebration of masses, especially for the soul of the founder of the chapel. (The one who put the money up front!)

Chevron.

Zig-Zag decorative moulding used in Norman churches. (Can also be Zig-Zag paint work on walls and columns.)

Choir.

The part of a church where services are sung. In monastic churches this can occupy the crossing and/ or the easternmost bays of the nave.

Clerestory.

Uppermost storey of the nave walls of a church pierced by windows.

Coade Stone

A ceramic artificial stone made in Lambeth from 1769 to about 1840 by Eleanor Coade and her associates.

Column.

In classical architecture an upright structural member of round cross section with a shaft, capital and usually a base. Mostly of stone but can be of wood or cast iron.

Corbel

A projecting block or bracket of stone or wood supporting something above it (eg Roof timbers). Usually carved or moulded often with angels or human heads.

Corbel Course

A continuous series of corbel stones or bricks forming a ledge also supporting something above it. (eg Roof Timbers)

Corbel Table.

A series of corbels to carry a parapet or wall plate.

Corbelling.

Brick or masonry courses built out beyond one another like a series of corbels to support a chimney stack or window etc.

Crypt.

Underground or half underground room usually below the east end of a church.

Ring Crypt.

Early mediaeval circular or polygonal corridor crypt surrounding the apse of a church and often used with chambers for relics and the pilgrims visiting these.

(DEC) Decorated Period

Historical division of English Gothic architecture covering the period from 1290 to 1350. The term is derived from the type of window tracery used during this period

Dome

A vault of even curvature most usually erected on a circular base. The section can be segmental (eg saucer shaped dome) Semi circular, pointed or bulbous (Onion dome).

(EE) Early English.

Historical division of English Gothic Architecture covering the period from about 1190 to 1250.

Epitaph.

(Literally -on a tomb) Inscription on a tomb or attached plate (eg. -Cartouche)

Fenestration.

The arrangement of windows in a building.

Finial

Ornamental top to a gable or canopy, often in the form of crosses on church roofs.

Fleuron.

A decorativecarved flower or leaf, often (usually) rectiliniar.

Font.

The container/ basin for the water used for baptism.

Gable

Triangular upper part of a wall at the end of a ridged roof.

Gargoyle

A water spout projecting from the parapet of a wall or tower, often carved in a human, animal or grotesque shape.

Glazing Bars.

Wooden or metal bars separating and supporting glazed panels.. eg in a Stained Glass Window. Modern material used is Phosphor Bronze.

Gothic.

The period of mediaeval architecture characterised by the use of the pointed arch. For its subdivisions see Early English, Geometric, Decorated, Perpendicular and Flamboyant

Grisaille

Monochrome painting on Glass. Usually black repeated pattern on small quarries.

Hatchment

A board or canvas Diamond shaped and containing the family coat of arms of a deceased person. Normally three were made Two large and one small. Used on the outside of the house and in church to denote who had died. Quite rare to find modern ones. (Marston, Lincolnshire for example)

Keel moulding

A moulding whose outline is in section like the keel of a ship.

Lady Chapel

Chapel dedicated to The Virgin Mary. (Our Lady)

Lancet:

A single narrow window, often pointed or rounded at the top

Mausoleum.

A monumental building or chamber usually intended for the burial of the dead of members one family.

Misericords.

Tip up seats for the resting of the buttocks during long periods of standing, to ease the pressure on the legs, for example by Monks in their night time services and especially the old men. These very often have elaborate carvings of all sorts of beasts and often The Green Man under the ledge.

Mullion.

A vertical member in between the lights in a window opening.

Nave

The main body of the church west of the crossing or chancel. The seating area of the congregation. May be flanked by aisles.

Obelisk.

A tapering pillar of square section at the top and ending pyramidally.

Pediment.

In classical architecture. particularly above certain church doors and on large standing wall monuments, a wide but low triangular structure to decorate the top ‘Gable’ Where the top section of the triangular gable is missing this is called a broken Pediment. Where the bottom center section of the triangular gable is missing this is called an open pediment. Where the top section of the pediment is missing and the two side sections remaining are curved and the ‘broken’ pieces end in a rosette this is known as a Swan Necked Pediment, as in the Saunderson monument at Glentworth. Where the top section of the gable has a low curved part of a circular top. This is known as a segmental pediment. There are various uses in combinations of pediments on memorials. ie, a broken and open pediment can be used together.

(PERP.) Perpendicular.

Historical division of English Gothic architecture covering the period from c1335-1350 to c1530. The name is derived from the upright tracery panels then used. See Tracery below.

Piers.

Large masonry or brick support, usually for an arch or series of arches.

Putto

A small naked boy (Plural Putti). Used very often on large tombs. For an example see the Saunderson monument at Glentworth.

Quarries.

(Literally -Squares.)

  1. Square or Diamond shaped panes of glass (usually quite small) supported and joined together by lead strips called Calms or Cames.
  2. Square floor slabs or tiles known as Quarry Tiles.

Reredos.

Painted and/or sculptured screen behind and above an altar.

Romanesque.

In England this style of architecture is often called Norman. It is a style of architecture which was current in the 11th and 12th centuries and preceded the Gothic Style. The name is also very often used for architecture of the 9th and 10th centuries.

Rood.

A cross or crucifix placed between the chancel and nave, usually on the top of the screen which screens the chancel from the nave. This is known as a rood screen; it is often decoratively painted or carved or both.

Sanctuary.

Most sacred part of the chapel, usually round the altar.

Stalls.

Seating for the choir situated in the Chancel. Usually very decoratively carved and sometimes with tip-up seats with Misericords.

Strapwork.

A decoration often used in the late 16th and the 17th centuries. It comprises a strap like interlaced band of leather or a ribbon resembling material interlaced and used to connect various pieces of Iconography. Items like mattock and spade, crossed bones, ink bottle and book of life (Closed) crossed flaming torches (Upside down) etc.

Tracery.

Intersecting rib-work in the upper part of a window or used decoratively on blank arches, on vaults etc.

  1. Plate Tracery. An early form of tracery where decoratively shaped openings are cut through the solid stone in-filling in a window head (Top of a window)
  2. Bar Tracery. A form introduced into England about1250 comprising Intersecting rib-work made up of slender shafts, continuing the lines of the mullions of a window to a decorative mesh in the head of the window. There are various forms of bar tracery such as:- Geometrical tracery characteristic of c1250 to 1310.consisting of circles or foiled circles in the head.
  3. Y Tracery. A type of tracery each mullion branches in two forming a Y shape. Typical of c1300.
  4. Intersecting Tracery. Tracery in which each mullion of a window branches out into two curved bars in such a way that each one of them is drawn with the same radius from a different center. The result is that every light of the window is a lancet and every two, three, four etc, lights together form a pointed arch. This is also typical of c1300.
  5. Reticulated Tracery. A type of tracery typical of early 14th century consisting entirely of circles drawn at the top and bottom of the window head to form Ogee shapes so that a net like appearence results.
  6. Panel Tracery. A perpendicular tracery, which is formed of upright straight sided panels above lights a window.

Transept

(Literally -a cross enclosure.) Transverse portion of a cross shaped church building.

Tympanum.

The space between the lintel and archway over a doorway or opening. Very often elaborately carved, especially in early churches.

Vault.

Stone ceiling formed like arches, a rib is a projecting feature of a vault and is sometimes structural but can also be just ornamental.

Also used as a name for a burial chamber, usually under the floor of the church.

Wall Plate.

A timber laid longitudinally along the top of a building wall to receive the ends of the rafters. In a timber framed building the posts and studs of the wall below are tenoned into it.

Weepers.

Small figures of people or angels etc placed in niches around the sides of some tomb chests. Also sometimes referred to as Mourners.

 


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