Looking at Buildings

Glossary

Nogging: Brickwork infilling of a timber-framed wall.
Nook-shaft: Shaft set in the angle of a wall or opening.
Norman: Cambridgeshire
The English version of the Romanesque style, which predominated in Western Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries; so called because it was propagated after the Norman Conquest in 1066. It is associated especially with the expansion of monasticism and the building of large stone churches, and is characterized by massive masonry, round-headed arches and vaulting inspired by ancient Roman precedent, and by the use of stylized ornament.
Nosing: Projection of the tread of a step.
Nutmeg: Medieval ornament with a chain of tiny triangles placed obliquely.
Obelisk: Lofty pillar of square section, tapering at the top and ending pyramidically.
Octostyle: Harvey Lonsdale Elmes,
1841-56
Of a porch or portico: with eight columns across the front.
Oculus: Circular opening.
Oeil de boeuf: Small oval window, set horizontally. Also called a bullseye window.
Ogee: A double curve, bending first one way and then the other. An ogee or ogival arch, especially popular in the 14th century, is pointed at the top. A nodding ogee curves forward from the wall face at the top.