Quoins (
or ) are
masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...
blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior
stone or
rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, these imply strength, permanence, and expense, all reinforcing the onlooker's sense of a structure's presence.
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Stone quoins are used on stone or brick buildings. Brick quoins may appear on brick buildings, extending from the facing
brickwork in such a way as to give the appearance of generally uniformly cut
ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
blocks of stone larger than the bricks. Where quoins are decorative and non-load-bearing a wider variety of materials is used, including
timber,
stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
, or other
cement render.
Techniques
Ashlar blocks
In a traditional, often decorative use, large rectangular
ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
stone blocks or replicas are laid horizontally at the corners. This results in an alternate, quoining pattern.
Alternate cornerstones
Courses of large and small
corner stones are used, alternating between stones of different thickness, with typically the larger cornerstones thinner than the smaller.
Alternate vertical
The long and short quoining method instead places long stone blocks with their lengths oriented vertically, between smaller ones that are laid flat. This load bearing quoining is common in Anglo-Saxon buildings such as
St Bene't's Church in Cambridge, England.
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References
External links
*{{Cite EB1911, wstitle=Quoins, volume=22
Stonemasonry
Types of wall
Architectural elements