§ IV. There is not much variety in the case of the first, _a_, Fig.
XLVIII. In the Cumberland and border cottages the door is generally
protected by two pieces of slate arranged in a gable, giving the purest
possible type of the first form. In elaborate architecture such a
projection hardly ever occurs, and in large architecture cannot with
safety occur, without brackets; but by cutting away the greater part of
the projection, we shall arrive at the idea of a plain gabled cornice,
of which a perfect example will be found in Plate VII. of the folio
series. With this first complete form we may associate the rude, single,
projecting, penthouse roof; imperfect, because either it must be level
and the water lodge lazily upon it, or throw off the drip upon the
persons entering.
§ V. 2. _b_, Fig. XLVIII. This is a most beautiful and natural type, and
is found in all good architecture, from the highest to the most humble:
it is a frequent form of cottage door, more especially when carried on
spurs, being of peculiarly easy construction in wood: as applied to
large architecture, it can evidently be built, in its boldest and
simplest form, either of wood only, or on a scale which will admit of
its sides being each a single slab of stone. If so large as to require
jointed masonry, the gabled sides will evidently require support, and an
arch must be thrown across under them, as in Fig. XLIX., from Fiesole.
[Illustration: Fig. XLIX.]
If we cut the projection gradually down, we arrive at the common Gothic
gable dripstone carried on small brackets, carved into bosses, heads, or
some other ornamental form; the sub-arch in such case being useless, is
removed or coincides with the arch head of the aperture.
§ VI. 3. _c_, Fig. XLVIII. Substituting walls or pillars for the
brackets, we may carry the projection as far out as we choose, and form
the perfect porch, either of the cottage or village church, or of the
cathedral. As we enlarge the structure, however, certain modifications
of form become necessary, owing to the increased boldness of the
required supporting arch. For, as the lower end of the gabled roof and
of the arch cannot coincide, we have necessarily above the shafts one of
the two forms _a_ or _b_, in Fig. L., of which the latter is clearly the
best, requiring less masonry and shorter roofing; and when the arch
becomes so large as to cause a heavy lateral thrust, it may become
necessary to provide for its farther safety by pinnacles, _c_.
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