PIER The masses or clusters of masonry between doors, windows, etc.; the supports from which arches spring. PILLAR A term frequently confounded with column, but differing from it in not being subservient to the rules of classical architecture, and in not of necessity consisting of a single circular shaft. PINNACLE A small turreted ornament tapering towards the top, and used as a termination to many parts of Gothic architecture. PISCINA The stone basin or sink in the chancel used for cleansing the communion vessels. PLINTH The lower division of the base of a column, pier or wall. POPPY-HEAD An ornament boldly carved on the tops of bench ends, etc. PRESBYTERY A term sometimes used to include the whole of the choir, but more often meant to refer to the eastern end of the choir from which it is generally raised by several steps. QUARRIES or QUARRELS The small diamond, square or other the shaped panes used in plain glazing. QUATREFOIL The shape resembling four leaves formed in tracery or panels by cusps. QUOIN The external angle of a building, generally of ashlar. REREDOS The wall or screen at the back of an altar, often enriched with carving, niches, statues, etc. ROOD-BEAM or ROOD-LOFT The loft or beam which, previous to the Reformation, supported the Great Rood, or Crucifix. ROSE WINDOW A term often used to denote a circular window of several lights. ROTUNDA A term used to describe a church or other building which is of circular formation both within and without. SACRISTRY A room used in churches for storing the plate and valuables. SANCTUARY See Presbytery. SEDILIA A seat or seats, generally canopied and situated on the south side of the chancel and used in pre-Reformation days by the officiating clergy during the pauses in the mass. SHAFT The part of a column or pillar between the capital and the base. SHRINE Often called the feretory. The place where relics were deposited. SOFFIT The word means literally a ceiling, but is generally used to describe the flat under-surface of arches, cornices, stairways, etc. SPANDRELS The spaces between the arch of a doorway or window and the rectangular mouldings over it. Early tracery originated from the piercing of the spandrels of windows. SPIRE The acutely pointed termination of towers, etc., originating by the elongation of the early pyramidal roofs.