Resources
Glossary
Abutment: This word can be used in two senses. It is the point at which a roof meets a wallhead and also a massive structure supporting the ends of a bridge.
Ashlar: Masonry that has been shaped into regular squared blocks and given a smooth face. It is laid in level courses and tends to have very fine mortar joints.
Bargeboard: Bargeboards are fixed to the gable ends of roofs to conceal and protect the ends of the roof timbers or thatch. They often project over the wall face and are frequently decorative.
Buttress: A masonry support that gives additional strength to a wall and resists outwards thrust.
Came: A strip of lead with an H-shaped profile used to join pieces of glass together in a leaded window.
Clerestory: The section of the main wall below the eaves and above the top of the aisle roof which is pierced with windows giving light into the interior.
Conservation: Action necessary to preserve anything of acknowledged value.
Coping: A protective covering of brick or stone on the top of a wall. The coping will usually project to help throw rainwater away from the wall.
Corbel: A block of masonry that projects from the wall and carries the end of a roof truss or beam. Corbels are often carved with grotesque human or animal figures.
Cornice: A continuous horizontal feature running around the top of a wall or the top of a room.
Crypt: An underground chamber or vault often used for burials.
Curtilage: It is difficult to define curtilage exactly but it is generally taken to be a piece of ground ancillary to a building and necessary to the function and/or enjoyment of that building. The important factors are the physical relationship between the ground and the building; past and present ownership; and the past and present use.
Eaves: The underside of a sloping roof where it overhangs the wall below.
Efflorescence: This is a white powdery deposit found on the surface of stone, brick or plaster. It occurs when excessive moisture causes the soluble salts present in the masonry to dissolve. They are then drawn towards the internal surface of the wall, as this is usually warmer than the external surface. Once they reach the inside face of the wall the water evaporates and the salts re-crystallise on the surface. Efflorescence is unsightly but relatively harmless and can be brushed off when dry, although it is often a sign that there may be too much moisture in the fabric. The underlying causes must therefore be investigated and addressed.
Fabric: The materials from which a building is constructed.
Faculty: A faculty is a licence authorising an agreed package of work granted by an ecclesiastical body.
Fascia: A strip of timber boarding fixed to the ends of the rafters or fitted below a wallhead on a building with a flat or low-pitched roof. It is sometimes decorative but often supports the gutter fixings.
Ferramenta: The metal framework of internal saddle-bars and external stanchions used to support the glazing in large windows. Ferramenta were originally made from wrought iron but are now more likely to be manufactured from mild steel or sometimes stainless steel.
Fillet: A fillet is a thin flat band, running between mouldings, the purpose of which is to separate and define them. It is also a wedge shaped strip of mortar used to protect a junction such as that between a roof and a wall from the weather.
Flashing: A protective strip of lead, copper or zinc covering a joint that is exposed to the weather. Where a horizontal surface meets a vertical surface, flashings are often in two parts - an upstand, which turns up the vertical surface and a cover (counter) flashing, which turns down over it. Soakers are small individual flashings laid with each course of slate or tile.
Gargoyle: A projecting water spout, usually grotesquely carved in the form of an animal or human figure.
Hood moulding: A projecting stone moulding over an arch, door or window, which is designed to throw rainwater clear of the building.
Ironmongery: A general name for door and window fittings including hinges, locks and catches, handles and knobs.
Jamb: Blocks of masonry forming the side of a door or window.
Lime: Quicklime (calcium oxide) is made by heating limestone or chalk (calcium carbonate) to drive off the carbon dioxide. When water is added to quicklime (slaking) heat is given off. If slaked lime is mixed with sharp sand in the right proportions, it can be used as a mortar or applied to a wall surface as a render. Lime mortars and renders have to be accurately specified, mixed and applied in the right conditions. Slaked lime can also be mixed with water and used as a coating for masonry or render. It is known as limewash.
Maintenance: The process of slowing down the rate of decay by keeping the fabric of a building in good condition.
Mullion: A vertical timber or stone bar dividing a window into ‘lights'.
Parapet: A low wall built around a roof to prevent people falling over the edge.
Pier: A solid vertical mass of masonry supporting a vertical load.
Pinnacle: A tall pointed decorative feature, usually at a corner of a building or above the top of a buttress.
Plinth: A projecting platform supporting a building or providing the base for a column or sculpture.
Putty: Glazier's putty is a mixture of whiting (crushed chalk) and linseed oil and is used to fix glass panes into a window frame. Lime putty is the product of slaking quicklime with water.
Quoin: A large, dressed stone used to form the corner of a building.
Rafter: The sloping beam in a timber roof structure that connects the ridge beam to the wall plate. A roof may have principle rafters and/or common rafters. A purlin is a horizontal timber member that transfers the load from the common rafters to the principle rafter.
Repair: Work that is carried out to put right defects, significant decay or damage.
Sill (or cill): The horizontal bottom member of a window or screen.
Soffit: The flat ceiling under a lintel, gallery, beam, stair or overhanging roof etc.
Tracery: Slender moulded stone bars which intersect to form patterns at the head of a window. Tracery is usually a feature of the Gothic style of architecture.
Transom: In any large window with mullions, the transom is a horizontal bar of wood or stone running across the whole window. It will usually have a similar profile to the mullions.
Vestment: Any of the various garments worn ceremonially by members of the clergy and church choirs.
Wallhead: The top of a masonry wall sometimes visible from the roof space.
Wall plate: Horizontal timber member placed on top of the wall to support the load imposed upon it by the roof structure.
