Current Filter: Architecture
Sacristy: Safe storage for the church valuables
Sanctuary: Location of the church to the east of the alter rails
Sepulchre: A tomb
Shaft: the part between the capital and the base of a pillar but usually applied to the small columns clustered around pillars or found in the jambs of doors or windows
Shaft: The main part of a column
Shell Keep: A high circular or many sided keep built on top of a motte with domestic buildings inside
Shingle: Small tiles of wood used to cover a roof
Siege tower: A timber tower sometimes with wheels that attackers used to reach the height of the castle
Slype: Covered walkway between transepts and chapter-house
Solar: The private living quarters of a Lord. Usually next to the great hall
Spandrel: Triangular space above the haunch of an arch
Spire: Conical construction on top of a tower
Stained Glass: The glass is stained with metallic oxides and painted afterwards with finer details
Stairs: Series of steps made of wood or stone giving access to different floors
Steeple: Combined spire and tower where there is no defined join
Strapwork: Ornament that imitates interlacing bands of leather
String-course: Band, sometimes projecting, of horizontal masonry
Tie-beam: Horizontal beam used to hold rafters from spreading
Tracery: Ornamental stonework in a window
Transepts: Located to the north and south of the choir, providing extra chapels and useful for holding the central tower up
Transom: Horizontal division of a window
Triforium: The portion of the internal wall of a cathedral above the arcade and below the clerestory that fronts the area above aisles
Turret: A small tower
Tympanum: Space between the lintel of a doorway and an arch above it
Undercroft: The crypt below the church
Virtual Buildings
Transport yourself back up to a thousand years and explore historical buildings as they may have appeared in the past.