6 is an example of a quite different type. In all the others, the windows were of the ordinary mullioned type, with a label (or cornice) over them. In No. 6 not only does the shape of the mullion follow a new idea, but the whole of the mouldings outside of it are carried round the head and jambs of the window to form a regular architrave: the effect can be seen in the windows at Wollaton, in Fig. 106. As this architrave projected beyond the face of the wall, the window-sill was brought forward to receive it, as shown on Fig. 99. The projecting sill is supported at each end by a quaint corbel, and the space between the corbels is filled by a projecting panel fashioned like a piece of fancifully-shaped leather nailed on to the wall, and having some of its cut ends curled up. This treatment of windows involved a considerable amount of labour and expense, and accordingly was not often adopted; but the use of the architrave became general during the seventeenth century, after the mullioned window had given way to sashes. [Illustration: 98.--SECTION OF WINDOW JAMBS AND MULLIONS.] [Illustration: 99.--WINDOW-SILL AT WOLLATON HALL.] [Illustration: 99A.--HEAD OF A WINDOW AT HATFIELD HOUSE.] CHAPTER VI. EXTERIOR FEATURES (_continued_). GABLES, PARAPETS, FINIALS, CHIMNEYS, RAIN-WATER HEADS, GARDENS. GABLES. [Illustration: 100.--A NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COTTAGE.] The gable is one of the characteristic features of the period. As a rule it was of steep pitch--indeed, in many thatched barns and cottages the apex is very acute (Fig. 100). In such cases the cottages generally had attic-rooms in the roof, which were lighted by dormer windows, over which the thatch was worked in such a way that they appeared to be a growth out the main roof rather than an extraneous window applied to it. In stone and brick houses the gable wall rose above the roof, and was coped with stone to prevent the wet penetrating into it. The coping rested at the bottom on a kneeler, which projected sufficiently to accommodate itself to the projection of the eaves, and at the apex it was usually crowned by a finial. A considerable amount of variety was introduced into the design of the kneelers and finials, and many a small house and cottage is redeemed from insignificance by the possession of one or two of these features (Fig. 101). Even where there was no finial, the mere fact of the apex of the coping projecting above the line of the ridge produced a point that showed against the sky, and helped towards the general picturesqueness of effect. In some of the more important houses the finials were worked with greater elaboration, and were placed not only on the apex of the gable but on the kneelers at its foot (see Fig. 108, and the dormer on Fig. 113; also Plate XXX.). The effect of plain gables contrasted with those having simple finials is shown on Plate XXXV., while examples