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Schematic plan of a typical Rutland church. glossary Art historians revel in creating 'typologies' and obscure terminology as a shorthand among themselves. But these are often meaningless to the uninitiated. Sadly these terms are often used willy-nilly in church guide books by writers who, presumably seeking to impress others with their erudition, succeed instead in perplexing visitors. In case you come across them, here is a summary of the frequently-used terms used to refer to the succession of different decorative styles. Anglo-Saxon 600–1066 Romanesque (Norman) 1066–1180 Transitional 1175–1200 Early English (Gothic) 1190–1250 Geometric (Gothic) 1250–1290 Decorated (Gothic) 1290–1350 Decorated (Gothic) 1290–1350 Perpendicular (Gothic) 1325–1530 Tudor 1485–1603 Baroque C17–18 Queen Anne early C18 (note that as a style it starts shortly before Anne becomes monarch, just to confuse folks) Georgian (Neoclassical) 1714–1830 Gothic Revival C19, usually after 1830s Arts and Crafts 1860s to early C20 A point of pedantry. Many church guides refer to 'Norman architecture' as the style of building used in Britain between about 1066 and 1180. However the British style is closely linked to the same style elsewhere in Europe, where it started several centuries earlier. Of course there was no Norman conquest elsewhere in Europe so this pan-European style is known as the Romanesque, reflecting its clear origins in the Roman style of construction and decoration. Scholarly writing about British architecture has long referred to the Norman style as the 'Romanesque', and I have used the term 'Romanesque' throughout this web site. However many church guide books and web sites still use the term 'Norman'. Words in bold are defined in this glossary. aisle: used here not to refer to the central walkway in the nave but to the extensions on the north and/or south sides of the nave, separated by arcades. See top of this page The Romanesque north arcade in Morcott church. arcade: a series of arches on columns or piers, usually between the nave and the aisles. aumbry: a small cupboard built into the wall of the chancel for storing the chalice and other liturgical vessels. The double bellcote at Essendine. bellcote: an open structure on which the bells are hung, sometimes known as a 'bell turret'. Twin bellcotes are especially common on Rutland churches. box pew: enclosed seating, often with doors, usually dating from the seventeenth or eighteenth century. They often were reserved for the use of specific families. Victorian church restorers were keen to remove these and replace them with 'open' pews. broach: an octagonal spire merged into a square tower with triangular 'facets'. capitals: the large blocks on top of a column or pillar, directly beneath the arch. They are often decorated, sometimes with stylised foliage, occasionally with figures or other more elaborated motifs. See next photo below. chancel: the eastern part of a church, otherwise known as the choir. clerestory: windows high up in the nave. They are often more recent than the rest of the nave, becoming very fashionable in the fifteenth century. corbels: blocks of masonry partially set into walls and originally supporting roof timbers (although many are now functionless if the roof height has been raised). corbel table: see frieze. crockets: rows of hook-like or leaf-like projections, usually on the edges of a spire. Foliate face on a capital in the church at Oakham. foliate face: either a human or animal face with branches sprouting from the mouth, nose or eyes or a face surrounded by leaves or where the features are formed from leaves. Wrongly termed 'green men' in the 1930s. See Romanesque sculpture in Rutland for three of the earliest foliage-sprouting humans and animals to have survived in Britain. Part of the frieze around Ryhall church. frieze: fairly self-explanatory – a continuous band of decorative carving with, usually, rather small figures of faces, animals or vegetation. One distinctive style of flower is very stylised and known as 'ball flower'. More correctly it is a 'corbel table'. Yes it does make sense if you're an art historian. But not exactly user-friendly for mere mortals. Gargoyle (and corbel table) on Whissendine church. We know the corbel table can be no earlier than about 1380 and probably not much later than 1410 as that is when square headdresses (on the right) were in fashion for women. Presumably the gargoyle dates from the same time. The open spaces between the legs and the body are a trait of fifteenth century gargoyles so it might be from a little later. The metal downpipe is from much more recent centuries. gargoyle: to be found on the outside of churches, around the tower and along the nave and aisle roofs. 'Gargoyle' is a term often used indiscriminately for any grotesque carving; I use it in its strict sense of a carving designed to drain rainwater off the roof away from the walls. (The word 'gargoyle' derives from the Old French word gargouille meaning 'throat'; the word 'gargle' shares the same origin.) green man –see foliate face hagioscope – see 'squint' ha-ha: a wall above a ditch, preventing animals entering a park or garden without interrupting the view when seen from the house. hatchment: a coat of arms hung in the church after a person's death. hood stop: where the arch of a window or doorway meets the vertical sides on the exterior. Often decorated with a small head or foliate motif. label stop: where the arch of a window or doorway meets the vertical sides on the interior. Sometimes decorated. lucarne: a narrow opening with a dormer-like gabled top, usually in a spire. mass dial – see 'scratch dial' nave: the part of the church where the congregation sit. pilaster: a rectangular column projecting from a wall. piscina: washing basin for the chalice and other sacred vessels, often richly carved. reredos: an ornamental screen covering the wall behind an altar. roof bosses: decorative wooden carving along the centre of a roof. rood loft: a 'platform' above the rood screen separating the nave and chancel. In medieval times this platform would have supported sculptures of the 'rood' i.e. Jesus on the cross, together with sculptures of the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist. Almost without exception the rood lofts have gone, leaving only a set of twisting stairs that once provided access. rood screen: a carved screen separating the nave and chancel. A scratch dial on Caldecott church. scratch dial: Simple sundials to assist the clergy to assess the time of the Offices of the liturgy were apparently once common on the south side of churches. These are known as either 'scratch dials' or 'mass dials'. Unfortunately, both these names are misleading – the carving (at least on those that have survived!) is much deeper than a mere 'scratch'. But 'mass dial' is even more misleading as Mass was celebrated rarely before the mid-nineteenth century (perhaps only once or twice a year). Instead the daily and weekly liturgy revolved around the Offices (such as matins and vespers). For lack of a better alternative, I refer to them as 'scratch dials'. Typically scratch dials are situated on the wall near to where the priest entered, so sometimes they are by the south porch. Where there is a priest's door direct into the chancel the scratch dial may be there instead. The lines radiate from a small hole (where a stick would have been inserted). Curiously some lines radiate above as well as below the centre, although this is apparently redundant effort! Where multiple scratch dials are found at the same church the radiating lines are usually differently spaced. They may be 'winter' and 'summer' alternatives, or simply reflect the changing preferences of successive clergy. sedilia: seats built into the wall, often in the form of beautifully carved niches. Usually there are three, one each for the priest, deacon and sub-deacon who assisted with the liturgy. The three seats are often ranked, with the tallest nearest the altar. More details about Rutland's scratch dials here. squint: a hole or window through the masonry that enabled priests at side altars to see the main altar, so that key events of the Mass could be synchronised when celebrated simultaneously at the different altars. Also known as a hagioscope. stoup: a stone basin for holy water. The Romanesque tympanum inside Egleton church is an unusual design. Originally it would have been outside, above a doorway. tympanum: a carved semi-circular stone intended to fill the gap between the door lintel and the arch above. See Romanesque sculpture for more Rutland tympana. Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2026 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/rutland

Rutland's history home page what's new? glossary bibliography Rutland's geology Rutland's boundaries Rutland's rivers long, long ago prehistoric Rutland Roman Rutland long ago Anglo-Saxon Rutland Rutland's place-names waterborne transport around the sixth century Rutland's early churches Anglo-Saxon sculpture in Rutland The Matter of Rutland what the Normans did for Rutland Romanesque sculpture in Rutland Rutland's royal forests Rutland in medieval times Rutland's scratch dials Rutland's medieval carvings Rutland's sepulchral effigies Rutland's saltways Rutland in Tudor times Dissolution in Rutland not that long ago Rutland in the 17th century pinfolds and pounds in Rutland dovecotes in Rutland Rutland in the 18th century turnpiking Rutland Rutland's springs and wells changes in Rutland's agriculture since 1800 seems like yesterday Rutland's dialect Rutland's folk customs travellers in Rutland watermills and windmills in Rutland breweries in Rutland gasworks in Rutland ironstone quarrying in Rutland Zeppelins over Rutland redundant telephone exchanges in Rutland Second World War in Rutland WWII airfields and pillboxes in Rutland the making of Rutland Water Rutland Weekend Television free online history resources Victoria County History: Rutland volume one Victoria County History: Rutland volume two free PDFs of Rutland Record issues 1 to 50 old OS maps Historic England Listed buildings database Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland Open Domesday English Place-Name Society database Wikipedia list of places in Rutland (with links to village entries) Wikipedia list of people from Rutland researching and writing local history getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around Rutland Belton-in-Rutland History Society Cottesmore History and Archaeology Group Langham Village History Group Lyddington Manor History Society Rutland Local History and Record Society with free PDFs of over forty issues of the Rutland Record Uppingham Local History Study Group you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Vale of Belvoir Chronicle Barrowby Until Now website