Astepped gable,crow-stepped gable, orcorbie step[1] is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangulargable-end of a building.[1][2] The top of theparapet wall projects above theroofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a step pattern above the roof as a decoration and as a convenient way to finish the brick courses. Astepped parapet may appear on building facades with or without gable ends, and even upon afalse front.
The oldest examples can be seen inGhent (Flanders, Belgium) and date from the 12th century, such as the house calledSpijker on theGraslei, and some otherRomanesque buildings in the city. From there, they spread to the whole of Northern Europe from the 13th century, in particular in cities of theHanseatic League (withbrick Gothic style), and then to Central Europe by the next century. These gables are numerous inBelgium, France (French Flanders, EasternNormandy,Picardy andAlsace), theNetherlands, allGermany,Denmark,Sweden,Poland, and theBaltic States. They are also present but much rarer in the British Isles although the Old Elizabethan Library atTrinity Hall, Cambridge, dates to 1590. Crow-stepped gables are especially common on traditional Flemish and Dutch houses and on mediaeval Danish churches.
Crow-stepped gables were also used in Scotland as early as the 16th century.[3] Examples of Scottish crow-stepped gables can be seen atMuchalls Castle,Monboddo House, and theStonehaven Tolbooth, all late 16th and early 17th century buildings.
Nineteenth-century examples are found in North America, and the step gable is also a feature of the northern-Renaissance Revival andDutch Colonial Revival[4] styles.
In some regions of France, it's a utilitarian element in the architecture of thatched rural houses, where flat stones cover the load-bearing walls. In other regions, such as northern France (notably in theSoissonnais region), orScotland, it is a purely decorative element in ashlar. Another version of the stepped gable with a purely decorative role is found in so-called noble or urban architecture, mainly in northern and central Europe, such as Germany,Flanders and the Netherlands.[5][6]
In the rural architecture of various regions of France, the crenellated gables still visible on dwellings and barns are generally linked to the former existence of thatch roofing on these buildings, replaced during the 19th century by slate or flat tile roofing.[7][8]
The main advantages of the vertical projection of the gable slopes were to prevent thethatched roof from being “unplucked” in high winds, to facilitate access to the roof ridge[7] and to act as afirebreak.
In rural architecture, redents are generally covered withflat stones to protect them from therain, prevent water infiltration into theload-bearing wall, and enable theroofer orroad worker to place his tools.[9] These stones often (but not always) slope downwards to allow rainwater to drain away.
In the Campan valley (Hautes-Pyrénées), thatched roofs with overhanging gables can be found on temporary barns transformed into permanent farmhouses in the 19th century by family cadets, either by adding a single room (caouhadé orchauffoir) against a gable, or by creating a living space in the barn itself.[10]
In the Rhône-Alpes region, they are typical of the architecture of eastern Nord-Isère (Morestel andCrémieu cantons) and neighboring southernBugey (villages ofIzieu,Prémeyzel,Lhuis,Brégnier-Cordon,Arbignieu, etc.). They are also widespread in the traditional habitat of the northernVercors (Quatre Montagnes).[11]
InFrangy, Haute-Savoie, not far from the Bugey region, a rare example of this type of gabled roof can be found at theBel-Air farm,[12] which is listed as a historic monument.
In the central Pyrenees, fromBigorre toCouserans, gabled roofs are a common feature ofbarn andsheepfold architecture.[13]
In the villages of theJura andFranche-Comté vineyards, sometraditional Jura houses are built with gabled roofs.[14]
Stepped gables, also known as sparrow-stepped gables, can be found in villages along theAisne valley,[15] mainly in theSoissonnais region, where they are particularly numerous, if not widespread, and have characterized local rural architecture since the Middle Ages. They can be found on all types of buildings, mainly rural houses, but also manor houses, barns, town houses and church steeples. The term “crenellations” was formerly used to describe these steps. These are small steps, often consisting of a single ashlar course, not covered with flat stone. They have no credible utilitarian role. Their use is purely decorative or identity-related. Such gables are less common in other parts of northern France. AlthoughFlanders is not far away, the gables of the Soissonnais are very different from those of Flanders in shape and structure, and the long history of this tradition in France makes it unlikely that the two are related.[16]
The gables atChâteau de Pierrefonds, on the other hand, were designed byViollet-le-Duc in the neo-Gothic style of the 19th century, and are a cross between Soissonnais and Flanders.[17]
There's also a more monumental, urban version of cusped gables, found mainly in northern Europe, whose function is exclusively decorative or symbolic.[18]
InBelgian andFrench Flanders, stepped gables became widespread from the Middle Ages onwards. They are probably the result of adapting thecrenellations of fortified walls to sloping gables. A symbol of seigneurial housing, they were taken up by the powerful bourgeoisie of free market towns, to demonstrate the power they had acquired. The redents then quickly became widespread and a simple decorative motif, adorning even modest buildings. Redents are also sometimes fitted withmerlons.[19]
This type of gable, also known as “stepped gable” or “stepped gable”, is characteristic of many parts of Northern Europe. They can be found, with various local variations, inFlanders (in the broadest sense) and theNetherlands, but also throughout northernGermany,Poland, theBaltic states andScandinavia, particularly in the former GermanHanseatic towns, for which this type of gable is a striking architectural symbol, and where they spread at the same time as thebacksteingotik (“brick Gothic”) style.[20] They have also spread to more southerly Germanic regions, such asBavaria,Alsace andSwitzerland.[21]
In Flanders and the Netherlands, their style is somewhat different (the steps are smaller and tend to be more numerous on each pitch, compared to the often large steps of northern Germany). They were a characteristic feature of urban construction where, by virtue of taxes on the width of houses, people came to build high and privilege this aspect of the facade. Horizontal divisions corresponding to storey heights often tended to be reduced in height, creating an optical effect of “false perspective” that accentuated the effect of height. From the Renaissance onwards, curves andscrolls began to appear, gradually eliminating the “stepped” appearance, although many were still preserved.[22]
From the early 19th century to the present day, neo-regionalist architecture has revived the use of crenellated gables in bothBelgian andFrench Flanders:Tournai's Grand-Place, the reconstruction ofYpres andBailleul after the First World War, buildings inLille, and so on.
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Convenient access to the roof ridge motivated the crow-step design, along with the availability of squarish stones to accomplish this form of construction. The access would have been convenient forchimney sweeps and roofers in earlier times, where cranes were non-existent and tall ladders were not common.
With crow steps, the roofingslates (rarely tiles) do not reach the end of the building, so making for a special problem with keeping the roof watertight.[23] Many different schemes are found for overcoming this, some of which are described below. Terms currently used in Scotland are italicised.
When lead is to be held into a raggle, small folded lead wedges calledbats are inserted at intervals and hammered in so they expand. The raggle is then sealed with mortar.Crow steps are frequently made ofsandstone, even on buildings otherwise ofgranite,[24] and it is said that the porous nature of sandstone leads to problems with water penetration. Because of this, crow steps are sometimes capped with lead or sealed with other materials.
There are a number of variations on the basic design. One such structure isCulross Palace built in 1597 which features aveiled woman on the crow steps. Roofs in Scotland are typically steeper than in the rest of the United Kingdom (possibly because it snows more) making for steeper and more step-like steps.[25]
The Nuttall Encyclopædia suggests this architectural feature is calledcorble steps.[26]Corbie steps (from the Scots languagecorbie: crow) is a more common version. Another term sometimes used iscraw step. In Dutch, this design is termedtrapgevel ("stair-step facade"), characteristic of many brick buildings in the Netherlands, Belgium, and in Dutch colonial settlements.
A similar form is found in traditional Chinese architecture calledzh:馬頭牆 (pinyin:mǎtóu qiáng), which literally means "horse-head wall".
In some towns—includingHolland, Michigan–buildings were built with the distinctive Dutch step-gabled (trapgeveled) fronts.
Media related toStepped gables at Wikimedia Commons