Our Homeland Churches and How to Study Them Part 10

CAPITAL The head of a column or pilaster, found in a great variety of shapes.

CATHEDRAL A church presided over by a Bishop. The princ.i.p.al church of a diocese.

CHALICE The cup used for the wine at the celebration of the Eucharist.

CHAMFER The surface formed by cutting away the rectangular edge of wood or stone work.

CHANCEL The choir or eastern part of a church, appropriated to the use of those who officiate in the performance of the services.

CHANTRY A chapel often containing a tomb of the founder, and in which ma.s.ses were said.

CHAPEL A small building attached to cathedrals and large churches.

CHAPTER-HOUSE The room where the Dean and Prebendaries meet for the transaction of business.

CHEVRON An ornament characteristic of the Norman period and divided into several equal portions chevron-wise or zig-zag.

CHOIR That part of a church to the east of the nave where the services are celebrated, also called chancel, and frequently separated from the nave by an open screen of stone or wood.

CINQUEFOIL An ornamental foliation used in arches, tracery, etc., and composed of projecting points or cusps, so arranged that the opening resembles five leaves.

CLERESTORY Possibly the _clear_ storey. An upper storey standing above or clear of the adjacent roofs, and pierced by windows to give increased light.

CLOISTER A covered walk or ambulatory forming part of a cathedral or college quadrangle.

Cl.u.s.tERED COLUMN A pier made up of several columns or shafts in a cl.u.s.ter.

COLONNADE A row or rows of columns supporting a roof or building.

CORBEL Usually a moulded or carved ornament projecting from the walls, acting as a bracket and capable of bearing a super-inc.u.mbent weight.

CORNICE The horizontal termination of a building in the form of a moulded projection.

COURSE A continuous and regular line of stones or bricks in the wall of a building.

CROCKETS Projecting ornaments in the form of leaves, flowers, etc., used to embellish the angles of pinnacles, spires, gables, canopies, etc.

CROSS The accepted symbol of the Christian religion and an architectural church ornament usually placed upon the apex of the gable. A large cross called a rood was at one time always placed over the entrance to the chancel. The cross was worn as a personal ornament ages before the Christian era by the a.s.syrians, and we are told that the Druids also used this symbol in very early times.

CRYPT Sometimes called the Undercroft, a vaulted chamber, usually underground and, in churches, rarely extending beyond the area of the choir or chancel, and often of less dimensions.

CUSPS Projecting points giving the foliated appearance to tracery, arches, panels, etc.

DORMER A gabled window pierced through a sloping roof.

DRIPSTONE A projecting ledge or narrow moulding over the heads of doorways, windows, etc., to carry off the rain.

FAN-TRACERY Tracery in which the ribs form a fan-like appearance and diverge equally in every direction. (Peculiar to the late Perp.)

FLAMBOYANT Tracery whereof the curves a.s.sume flame-like waves and shapes.

FLYING b.u.t.tRESS A b.u.t.tress in the form of a bridge, usually transferring the thrust of the main roof from the clerestory walls to the main or aisle b.u.t.tresses.

FONT The vessel for holding the consecrated water used in baptism.

GARGOYLE A projecting spout usually grotesquely carved and used to throw the water from the roof well away from the building.

GROIN The line of intersection in vaulted roofs.

IMPOST Horizontal mouldings, capping a column or pier, from which the arch springs.

JAMB The side of a window or door.

KEYSTONE The central stone at the top of an arch. The bosses in vaulted ceilings are frequently called keys.

LADY CHAPEL A chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, called "Our Lady."

LANTERN A small structure or erection surmounting a dome or tower to admit light. These towers are known as Lantern Towers.

LOZENGE A name given in modern times to Norman mouldings which partake of a lozenge formation.

LYCH-GATE From the Anglo-Saxon _lich_, a corpse. A small and often picturesque shelter at the entrance to a churchyard.

MINSTER The church usually of a monastery or abbey or one to which such has been an appendant. York and Beverley, however, are exceptions to this rule.

MISERERE A small bracket on the undersides of the seats of stalls.

MOULDING A term generally applied to the contours given to angle projections or hollows of arches, doors, windows, etc.

MULLION The dividing bars of stone or wood between the lights of windows, or the openings of screens.

MuNSTER has now lost its simple application.

(MONASTERY)

NAVE From _navis_, a ship, the main body of a church west of the chancel.

NICHE An alcove or recess in a wall for holding a statue or ornament.

OGEE A moulding or arch formed of a curve or curves somewhat like the letter S, the curve of contra-flexure, part being concave and part convex.

ORDERS In Gothic architecture, the receding mouldings of an arch.

PARCLOSE The screen or railings protecting a monument or chantry.

PARVISE An open s.p.a.ce or porch at the entrance to a church, and often wrongly applied to the room over a church porch.

PATEN The small plate or salver used to hold the Consecrated Bread in the celebration of the Eucharist.