A Glossary of some Architectural Terms
| ABACUS | Flat top of a capital, like a stone board |
| ALTAR TOMB | A chest-like monument used as an altar |
| APSE | Semicircular end to a building, usually with a half dome |
| ARCADE | Row of arches supported by columns |
| BALUSTER | Pillar with middle swelling out |
| BARGE BOARD | (=verge board) - Woodwork at the verge of a gable, extending over the wall. |
| BATTLEMENT | Parapet with rectangular indentations |
| BROACH SPIRE | Spire without parapet at the base. (Resembling a spit; OE Broche |
| CHANTRY | Chapel for chanting masses (originally applied to the endowment) |
| CHEVRON | Moulding in zigzag form |
| CLERESTORY | Upper story with windows |
| CORBEL | Projecting stone supporting weight of a higher structure |
| DECORATED | c.1260-1360 (or early 14th century) - the most complete development of Gothic Architecture |
| DIAPER WORKS | Carved (or painted) work representing flowers, Etc., applied to a plain surface |
| EARLY ENGLISH | c.1190-1245 (or early 13th century) the first Gothic style of architecture used in the UK |
| FOLIATED ORNAMENT | Ornament, imitating leaves |
| FRESCOES | Paintings on the plaster of walls (strictly applied to painting on fresh or wet plaster) |
| GROINED | See VAULTING below |
| JACOBEAN | A style of architecture and ornament succeeding Elizabethan (early 17th century) |
| LANCET | A narrow pointed window in Early English style |
| LOW SIDE-WINDOW | Porch on which a coffin containing the corpse [Leich] is rested |
| MISERERE (Misericord) | A bracket under the stall seats of the choir |
| MULLION | Vertical division between lights of windows, screens Etc., |
| NORMAN | c.1066-1145 - A variety of the Romansque style of architecture |
| OGEE | A combination of two curves in opposite directions like an 'S' - a round and a hollow. |
| PARVISE | Room over a porch |
| PERPENDICULAR | c.1360-1485 (or 15th century) the last of the Gothic styles of architecture which flourished in England |
| PILASTER | A vertical flat pillar attached to a wall |
| PISCINA | A shallow stone basin with a drain for the water, used during mass |
| QUOINS | The external angles of a building or the stones of which they are built |
| REREDOS | A wall or screen behind an altar |
| ROOD LOFT or ROOD BEAM | The support for the rood or large crucifix |
| SEDILE | Priest's seat near the altar on the south side. (The plural is: SEDILIA) |
| SHINGLE | Tile of wood for covering spires, roofs etc., |
| SLYPE | A covered passage |
| SPANDREL | The space between an arch and its rectangular outer moulding |
| SQUINT | An oblique opening in a church wall, through which the altar can be seen |
| STOUP | A stone basin (in a niche) for holy water |
| TRANSITIONAL NORMAN | c.1145-1190 |
| TRANSOM | Horizontal crossbar in a window |
| TREFOIL | Three-pointed tracery, the space inside the point representing a three-lobed leaf |
| TUDOR | 1485 to the end of the 16th century, late perpendicular or Elizabethan style of architecture |
| VAULTING | Arched roof, cylindrical or wagon-shaped in its simplest form; in Early English - GROINED |
| WAGON ROOF | Semicircular roof |
1. Bell's Pocket Guides - SOMERSET by S.E. Winbolt, M.A. 1929 published by G. Bell & sons Ltd London - Pages xiii-xiv