, Henry VII.'s Chapel at
Westminster).

The wall of a building ordinarily requires some kind of base and some
kind of top. The base or plinth in English Gothic buildings was
usually well marked and bold, especially in the perpendicular period,
and it is seldom absent. The eaves of the roof in some cases overhang
the walls, resting on a simple stone band, called an eaves-course, and
constitute the crowning feature. In many instances, however, the
eaves are concealed behind a parapet[10] which is often carried on a
moulded cornice or on corbels. This, in the E. E. period, was usually
very simple. In the Dec. it was panelled with ornamental panels, and
often made very beautiful. In the Perp. it was frequently battlemented
as well as panelled.

A distinguishing feature of Gothic walls is the buttress. It existed,
but only in the form of a flat pier of very slight projection in
Norman, as in almost all Romanesque buildings, but in the Gothic
period it became developed.

The buttress, like many of the peculiarities of Gothic architecture,
originated in the use of stone vaults and the need for strong piers at
these points, upon which the thrust and weight of those vaults were
concentrated. The use of very large openings, for wide windows full of
stained glass also made it increasingly necessary in the Dec. and
Perp. periods to fortify the walls at regular points.

A buttress[10] is, in fact, a piece of wall set athwart the main wall,
usually projecting considerably at the base and diminished by
successive reductions of its mass as it approaches the top, and so
placed as to counteract the thrust of some arch or vault inside. It
had great artistic value; in the feeble and level light of our
Northern climate it casts bold shadows and catches bright lights, and
so adds greatly to the architectural effect of the exterior. In the
E. E. the buttress was simple and ordinarily projected about its own
width. In the Dec. it obtained much more projection, was constructed
with several diminutions (technically called weatherings), and was
considerably ornamented. In the Perp. it was frequently enriched by
panelling. The buttresses in the Dec. period are often set diagonally
at the corner of a building or tower. In the E. E. period this was
never done.

The flying buttress[11] is one of the most conspicuous features of the
exterior of those Gothic buildings which possessed elaborate stone
vaults. It was a contrivance for providing an