A tourelle is a type of

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * M ...

, sometimes used in Chateauesque architecture. A general dictionary defines tourelle as "a small tower (as one springing from corbeling or

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

)". An architectural dictionary defines it more specifically as a "

corbelled In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

, circular in plan, cone-roofed, sometimes containing a circular stair, set at the angle of a tower or wall at high level, and common in Scottish-Baronial architecture".''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture'' A distinction may be made between turrets that are atop corner towers going all the way down to the ground, vs.

s that project out and up. A tourelle is the latter.

References

{{reflist Architectural elements