Abacus: The flat slab of stone at the top of a column forming the top of a capital and supporting the arch or wall above it

Abutment: The section of wall to the side of the curving part of the arch erected to counter the thrust of the arch

Aisle: The passages to each side of the nave, separated from the nave by screens or columns

Altar: Flat topped wooden or stone table containing the cross. Usually at the east end of the church (More...)

Alure: The path along the top of a parapet at the top of a wall

Ambulatory: The processional aisle around the apse at the east end of a church

Ampoule: Vessel containing the sacred oil to anoint the kings of France at the cathedral at Rheims

Anglo-Saxon: English architectural style C10-11, followed by NORMAN

Angle: The corner of a building, inner or outer

Apex: The highest point of an architectural feature. A pryramid shape is common

Apse: A semicircular projection usually found at the east end of a church

Apsidal: Ending in a semi-circle

Arcade: A row of arches and columns dividing two places

Arcading: A row of blind arches in a wall, such that the arches are filled in and lead nowhere

Arch: A pointed or curved construction of wedge shaped stones. See Voussoir

Architect: A person competent to design buildings and to supervise their construction

Architrave: The ornamental moulding running around the curve of an arch, a door or window

Archivolt: A moulding carried around an arch

Armature: Metal framework in large untraceried window used to support the stained glass

Ashlar: Hewn and squared stone ready for construction purposes

Atrium: Covered row of columns in front of the door of a church

Bailey: The open area in a castle between the keep and the curtain wall. This area can have working and domestic buildings in it

Ballflower: Ornament in the shape of a flower with a ball surrounded by petals

Balustrade: A row of balusters which are vertical members that support the handrail of a staircase

Baptistry: Area of the church reserved for the administration of the sacrament of baptism.

Bar hole: Horizontal hole to hold a timber bar used for securing a door

Barbican: Outer defences of a castle where attackers would be vulnerable. Normally a double tower over a bridge or gate

Baronial: In terms of architecture typically Scottish and elaborate in nature

Barrel-vault: A tunnel-like semi-circular vault

Barrow: Burial mound built over stone graves

Bartizan: A watch-tower or turret jutting out from the top of a castle (bartisan)

Base course: The lowest course of masonry of a wall or pier

Bastion: A solid tower at the end or middle of a curtain wall

Bastle: Two-story rectangular building where the lower floor is used to house animals and the upper floor for living quarters

Batter: The inside face of a wall

Battlemented: Describes the top of of a wall where there are rows of rectangular teeth. This is also known as crenellated or embattled

Bay: A compartment into which a building is divided. Bays are marked by buttresses, pilasters in the walls, by the position of the main ribs of the vaulting of the interior, etc.

Beading: Small circular objects in a row

Belfry: A bell-tower or campanile

Berm: Strip of ground between the outer curtain wall and the moat

Billet Moulding: Norman ornamental moulding with cylindrical blocks

Blank arcading: See arcading

Blind arcading: See arcading

Boss: An ornamental projection in ribbed vaults used to hide the joins

Brattice: A wooden tower or a projecting wooden gallery at the top of a wall

Bressumer: A beam used as a support for a projection

Breteche: Hoardings: Wooden boards fitted to top of wall used as extra protection for defenders

Broach: an old English term for a spire, or to denote a spire that springs from a tower without an intermediate parapet

Buttress: The projection of stonework at the side or corners of a building to provide strength against the lateral forces

Cable Moulding: A moulding in the form of a rope made from twisted strands

Calefactory: Warming house in a monastery

Cantilever: A projecting beam fixed at one end only

Capital: The stone at the top of a column that supports the abacus and arch above it. The capital is usually carved

Caryatid: A statue in female form used as a supporting pillar

Casemate: Bomb-proof vault in a curtain wall for cannons

Castle: Medieval fortification

Cathedral: The principal church of a diocese where the bishop has the throne

Celestory: Windows or opening set high in a wall to illuminate the area below

Cell: A monastic dependency of a religious house

Chamber: A room on an upper floor for living and sleeping

Chamfer: The surface created by cutting away the angle of a beam along its length.

Chancel: The east end of the church, sometimes divided into the sanctuary and presbytery. Anglo-Saxon and early Norman chancels were normally apsed and later chancels were square

Chapter House: The building where the canons and Dean met each day to hear a chapter of St Benedict's Rule read out and to conduct the business of the abbey

Chevet: East end of a church with an apse surrounded by other smaller ones

Chevron: A zigzag form of ornamentation used in the Norman period

Choir: The area of the church where the choristers and clergy sit

Cinquefoil: A five-lobbed ornament

Clearstory: The upper story or row of windows lighting the nave of the church

Cloister: The rectangular covered area around an open space (garth) of a monastery or cathedral surrounded by covered walkways used for study and meditation. A photograph of the cloister at Lincoln Cathedral

Cob: Walling material of straw and unbaked clay

Column: Circular shaft with base and capital, designed to support the weight above

Concentric: A concentric castle has a series of defences enclosing another

Corbel: A stone jutting from a wall designed to support a roof or floor beam

Corbel table: The horizontal section high on a wall of a church containing carved stone heads

Cove: Concave moulding at junction of ceiling and wall

Crenellation: Notched battlements at the top of a wall

Crocket: A small carved and decorated projection in the form of a flower

Crossing: The point at which the roofs of the four cross-arms of the church met. Below the crossing is the choir

Crowstep: Step-shapes found at either side of the gable end of a building

Cruciform: Cross-shaped. A church with transepts has a cruciform plan

Crypt: Vault or chamber under the church

Cuirass: Medieval armour covering the back (backplate) and chest (breastplate). Plain or ornately decorated

Curtain Wall: The wall around the bailey with a sentry-walk along its top

Cushion capital: Typical in Romanesque work, having a square top and rounded off lower section