In architecture an M roof is a kind of roof formed by the junction of two common roofs with a valley between them, so that the section resembles the letter M. Research M Roof
In architecture a machicolation is an opening between the corbels which support a projecting parapet, or in the floor of a gallery or the roof of a portal, for shooting or dropping missiles upon assailants attacking the base of the walls. They are more especially found over the gateways and entrances, but are also common in other situations. Parapets are sometimes set out on projecting corbels, so as to have a similar appearance when there are no machicolations behind them. Examples are to be found in very many of our old castles, as at Warwick; Lumley and Raby, Durham; Carisbrook, Hampshire; Bodiam, Sussex, etc. Research Machicolation
In decorating, a manhelp is an adjustable length handle which may be attached to brushes to facilitate reaching otherwise inaccessible places. Research Manhelp
In architecture a Mansard roof is a hipped curbroof; that is, a roof having on all sides two slopes, the lower one being steeper than the upper one. It is named after its inventor, Francois Mansard, the French architect, who developed it so that the attic could be used as a room, in consequence of a municipal law limiting the height of front walls in Paris. Research Mansard Roof
A manse is a house provided for the clergy, a parsonage house. The use of this word is chiefly confined to the northern parts of Britain. Research Manse
In architecture a mantel is the finish around a fireplace, covering the chimney-breast in front and sometimes on both sides. The term is especially applied to a shelf above the fireplace, and its supports. The mantelpiece or mantelshelf as it was formerly known was originally designed as a shelf for hanging clothes from so as to dry them from the heat of the fire. Research Mantel
In architecture a manteltree (also mantle-tree and mantle-piece) is the name given to a lintel of a fireplace when its made of wood, as was frequently the case in early houses. Research Manteltree
In decorating, mantling is decorative scrollwork or drapery found in heraldic painting. It derives its name from the mantles worn by mediaeval knights to prevent the armour overheating in the sun. Research Mantling
Mastic is a waterproof, plastic, putty-like substance used as a filler, sealant and jointing material that is plastic when applied and remains flexible after it dries. Mastic is used by builders, civil engineers and decorators and generally consists of bitumen, tar, resin, rubber or oil mixed with an inter fibrous or powdered filler. Research Mastic
In architecture a member is any part of a building, whether constructional, such as a pier, column, lintel, or the like, or decorative, such as a moulding, or group of mouldings. Research Member
Mestizo style (also known as provincial highland style) is a term sometimes applied to a decorative style of architectural carving found in the Central Andes region of South America, dating to around the 17th and 18th centuries. Mestizo style is characterised by prolix relief carving on two levels with the edges deeply undercut, resulting in deep shadows outlining the designs when the sun shines on them. Mestizo style typically features a combination of traditional indigenous elements fused with elements of Christian symbolism. Research Mestizo Style
In architecture a metope or metopse is the space between two triglyphs of the Doric frieze, which, in some Greek examples are quite plain and in others ornamented with sculptures. In Roman buildings they are usually carved with ox skulls, but sometimes with pateras, shields, or other devices, and are rarely left plain. According to the Roman method of working the Doric order, it is indispensable that the metopes should all be exact squares, but in the Grecian Doric this is not necessary. Research Metope
In architecture a mezzanine is a partial story which is not on the same level with the story of the main part of the edifice, as of a back building, where the floors are on a level with landings of the staircase of the main house. Research Mezzanine
In architecture a minaret is a slender, lofty tower attached to a mosque and surrounded by one or more projecting balconies, from which the summon to prayer is cried by the muezzin. Research Minaret
In architecture a Minster is a church of a monastery. The name is often retained and applied to the church after the monastery has ceased to exist, and is also improperly used for any large church. The name is also sometimes applied to a cathedral. Research Minster
In architecture, a minute is a proportionate measure, by which the parts of the classical orders are regulated, a minute being the sixtieth part of the lower diameter of the shaft of a column. Research Minute
In architecture a miserere or misericordia is the projecting bracket on the underside of the seats of stalls in churches. These, where perfect, are fixed with hinges so that they may be turned up, and when this is done the projection of the miserere is sufficient, without actually forming a seat, to afford very considerable rest to any one leaning upon it. They were allowed in the Roman Catholic church as a relief to the infirm during the long services that were required to be performed by the ecclesiastics in a standing posture. They are always more or less ornamented with carvings of leaves, small figures, animals, etc, which are generally very boldly cut. Examples are to be found in almost all churches which retain any of the ancient stalls; the oldest is in Henry the VIIth's chapel at Westminster where there is one in the style of the thirteenth century. Research Miserere
In architecture a modillion or modillon is the enriched block or horizontal bracket generally found under the cornice of the Corinthian and Compositeentablature, and sometimes, less ornamented, in the Ionic and other orders. It is so called because of its arrangement at regulated distances. Research Modillion
In architecture, modular design refers to building design on the basis of units of fixed dimensions - for example all components may be of a dimension based on a multiple of 250 cm - and is typified by buildings constructed from prefabricated elements. Modular design makes use of standard components, allowing buildings to be erected very quickly - Hertfordshire County Council famously erected nearly fifty schools in 1946 using the technique. Research Modular Design
In architecture the term module is the size of some one part, for example the diameter of semi- diameter of the base of a shaft, taken as a unit of measure by which the proportions of the other parts of the composition are regulated. Generally, for columns, the semi-diameter is taken, and divided into a certain number of parts, called minutes, though often the diameter is taken, and any dimension is said to be so many modules and minutes in height, breadth, or projection. Research Module
In architecture the term monopteral is applied to temples which are round and without a cella; consisting of a single ring of columns supporting a roof. Research Monopteral
The Monument of London is a tower consisting of a pedestal 40 feet high with a 202 feet high edifice on top of that, the height being the distance from the monument to the spot where the fire of London commenced. The monument was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and cost 14500 pounds sterling to erect. Inside is a staircase of black marble and 345 steps.
Four inscriptions originally adorned the monument, three in Latin and one in English which read:
'This pillar was set up in perpetual remembrance of that most dreadful burning of this protestant city, begun and carried on by ye treachery and malice of ye popish faction, in ye beginning of septem. in ye year of our lord 1666 in order to ye carrying on their horrid plot for extirpating yeprotestant religion and our English liberty, and ye introducing popery and slavery'.
The English inscription, cut in 1681, was obliterated on the orders of James II and was later re-cut on the orders of William III before being finally obliterated by the orders of the common council in 1831. Due to a number of suicides where people threw themselves from the viewing gallery at the top a fence was erected around the railing of the gallery in 1839. Research Monument of London
In gilding, a mop is a soft camel-hair brush used in the gilding of carved, moulded or modelled work, for the purpose of pressing the gold leaf into the crevices and intricate parts of the work. Research Mop
In architecture mortar is a building material made by mixing lime, cement, or plaster of Paris, with sand, water, and sometimes other materials. It is used in masonry for joining stones, bricks, etc., and also for plastering, and in other ways. Research Mortar
In architecture, moulding is a general term applied to all the varieties of outline or contour given to the angles of the various, subordinate parts and features of buildings, whether projections or cavities, such as cornices, capitals, bases, door and window jambs and heads, etc.
The regular mouldings of classical architecture are, the fillet, or list; the astragal, or bead; the cyma reversa, or ogee; the, cyma reversa, or cyma; the cavetto, or hollow; the ovolo, or quarter-round; the scotia, or trochilus; the torus, or round. Each of these occur in a variety of forms, and there is considerable difference in the manner of working them between the Greeks and Romans. The mouldings in classical architecture are frequently enriched by being cut into leaves, eggs, and tongues, or other ornaments, and sometimes the larger members have running patterns of honeysuckle or other foliage carved on them in low relief. The upper moulding of cornices is occasionally ornamented with a series of projecting lions heads.
In middle age architecture, the diversities in the proportions and arrangements of the mouldings are very great and it is scarcely possible to do more than point out a few of the leading and most characteristic varieties.
In the Norman style the mouldings consist almost entirely of rounds and hollows, variously combined, with an admixture of splays, and a few fillets: the ogee and ovolo are seldom to be found, and the cyma recta scarcely ever. In early work very few mouldings of any kind are met with, and it is not until the style is considerably advanced that they become numerous. As they increase in number, their size is, for the most part, proportionally reduced. One of the most marked peculiarities of Norman architecture is the constant recurrence of mouldings broken into zigzag lines. It has not been very clearly ascertained at what period this kind of decoration was first introduced, but it was certainly not until some considerable time after the commencement of the style; when once adopted, it became more common than any other ornament, and it is frequently used in great profusion. It may be made to produce great variety of effect by changing the section of the mouldings and placing the zigzags in different directions: about the same time that the zigzag appeared, other ornaments of various kinds were introduced among the mouldings, and are frequently met with in great abundance. Two of the most marked are the billet, and a series of grotesque heads placed in a hollow moulding, with their tongues or beaks lapping over a large bead or torus; but of these ornaments there are many varieties, and the other kinds are incalculably diversified.
In the Early English style, the mouldings become lighter, and are more boldly cut than in the Norman. The varieties are not very great, and in arches, jambs of doors, windows, etc, they are very commonly so arranged that if they are circumscribed by a line drawn to touch the most prominent points of their contour it will be found to form a succession of rectangular recesses. They generally consist of alternate rounds and hollows, the latter very deeply cut, and a few small fillets; sometimes splays are also used. There is considerable inequality in the sizes of the round mouldings, and the larger ones are very usually placed at such a distance apart as to admit several smaller between them. These large rounds have frequently one or more narrow fillets worked on them, or are brought to a sharp edge in the middle, as at Haddenham, Great Haseley, etc. The smaller rounds are often undercut, with a deep cavity on one side, and the round and hollow members constantly unite with each other without any parting fillet or angle. The ornaments used on mouldings in this style are not numerous, and they are almost invariably placed in the hollows. The commonest and most characteristic is that which is known by the name of the tooth-ornament, which usually consists of four small plain leaves united so as to form a pyramid, but it is sometimes worked differently, and at the west door of St Cross church, Hampshire, and the chancel-arch of Stone church, Kent, is composed of small bunches of leaves; these ornaments are commonly placed close together, and several series of them are frequently introduced in the same suit of mouldings. The other enrichments consist chiefly of single leaves and flowers, or of running patterns of the foliage peculiar to the style.
The Decorated mouldings are more diversified than the Early English, though in large suits rounds and hollows continue for the most part to prevail. The hollows are often very deeply cut, but in many instances, especially towards the end of the style, they become shallower and broader.
Ovolos are not very uncommon, and, ogees are frequent. Splays are also often used, either by themselves or with other mouldings. Fillets placed upon larger members are abundant, especially in the early part of the style, and a round moulding, with a sharp projecting edge on it, arising from one half being formed from a smaller curve than the other, is frequently used. This is characteristic of Decorated work, and is very common in stringcourses. When used horizontally the larger curve is placed uppermost. There is also another moulding, convex in the middle and concave at each extremity, which, though sometimes found in the Perpendicular style, may be considered as generally characteristic of the Decorated. Fillets are very frequently used to separate other members, but the rounds and hollows often run together as in the Early English style. The enrichments consist of leaves and flowers, either set separately or in running patterns, figures, heads, and animals, all of which are generally carved with greater truth than at any other period. Shields, also, and fanciful devices, are sometimes introduced: the varieties of foliage and flowers are very considerable, but there is one, the ball-flower, which belongs especially to this style, although a few examples are to be found of earlier date; this is a round hollow flower, of three petals, enclosing a ball.
In the Perpendicular style, the mouldings are generally flatter and less effective than at an earlier period, one of the most striking characteristics is the prevalence of very large, and often shallow hollows; these sometimes occupied so large a space as to leave very little room for any other mouldings. The hollows and round members not infrequently unite without any line of separation, but the other members are parted either by quirks or fillets. The most prevalent moulding is the ogee, but rounds, which are often so small as to be only beads, are very abundant, and it is very usual to find two ogees in close contact, with the convex sides next each other. There is also an undulating moulding, which is common in abacuses and dripstones, peculiar to the Perpendicular style, especially the latter part of it; and another indicative of the same date, which is concave in the middle and round at each extremity, is occasionally used in door jambs, etc. In Perpendicular work, small fillets are not placed upon larger members as in Decorated and Early English. Splays are also much less frequent than in the earlier styles, but shallow hollows are used instead. The ornaments used in the mouldings are running patterns of foliage and flowers; detached leaves, flowers, and bunches of foliage; heads, animals, and figures, usually grotesque; shields, and various heraldic and fanciful devices. The large hollow mouldings, when used in arches or the jambs of doors and windows, sometimes contain statues with canopies over them. Research Moulding
In architecture a mullion (munton, munnion, monyal, moynal, moynicle, moynel, monion) is the division between the lights of windows, screens, etc, in Gothicarchitecture. The styles, or upright divisions, in wainscoting are also sometimes called by the same name.
Mullions are scarcely ever found of earlier date than the Early English style, for although windows are not infrequently used in couplets, and sometimes in triplets, in Norman work, they are almost invariably separated by small shafts, or by piers too massive to be called mullions. Early English windows are also often separated by piers, but in numerous instances they are placed so close together, that the divisions become real mullions, and from the date of the introduction of tracery they are universal.
In unglazed windows, such as those in belfries, single shafts are sometimes used in place of mullions in the Early English style, and perhaps occasionally in the Decorated style. In open screen-work they appear to prevail in both these styles, and examples of Decorated date are by no means uncommon. The mouldings of mullions are extremely various, but they always, partake of the characteristics of the prevailing style of architecture. In rich Early English and Decorated work they frequently have one or more small shafts attached to them which terminate at the level of the springing of the arch, and the mouldings in the tracery (where tracery is used) over the capitals of the shafts are generally different from those below, but in many instances, mullions, in both these styles, have plain splays only and no mouldings, and many of Decorated date have shallow hollows instead of splays at the sides. In Perpendicular work a plain mullion of this last mentioned kind is extremely common: after the introduction of the Perpendicular style, shafts are rarely found on mullions, though bases are sometimes worked at the bottoms of the principal mouldings, and arrangement which is occasionally found in earlier work, and most abundantly in the Flamoyant style of France. Research Mullion
In architecture, a muntin is a vertical part of a framed or panelled joinery construction which lies between the panels and the spans the distance between two horizontal rails. Research Muntin
In architecture a mutule is a projecting block worked under the corona of the Doric cornice, in the same situation as the modillion of the Corinthian and Composite orders. It is often made to slope downward towards the most prominent part, and has usually a number of small guttae, or drops, worked on the underside. Research Mutule
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Architecture
Research M Roof
