Opus Spicatum
''Opus spicatum'', literally "spiked work," is a type of masonry construction used in Roman architecture, Roman and medieval architecture, medieval times. It consists of bricks, tiles or cut Rock (geology), stone laid in a brickwork#Herringbone bond, herringbone pattern. Uses Its usage was generally decorative and most commonly it served as a Pavers (flooring), pavement, though it was also used as an infill pattern in walls, as in the striking base of the causeway leading up to the gate tower at Tamworth Castle. Unless the elements run horizontally and vertically, it is inherently weak, since the oblique angles of the elements tend to spread the pattern horizontally under compression. The type of construction was constantly employed in Ancient Rome, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine and Romanesque architecture, Romanesque work, and in the latter was regarded as a test of very early date. It is frequently found in the Byzantine walls in Anatolia, Asia Minor, and in Byzantine chur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fireplace Fireback
A fireplace fireback is a piece of heavy cast iron, sized in proportion to the fireplace and the fire, which is placed against the back wall of the fireplace. Functions The primary functions of a fireback are to protect the wall at the back of the fireplace and radiate heat from the fire into the room. The protection was especially important where the wall was constructed of insubstantial material such as daub (a mud and straw mixture coating interwoven wooden wattles), brick or soft stone. Protective metal plates that became available when cast iron was developed enabled fires to be placed against walls without danger to the fabric of the building. The other function of the fireback is to act as a radiator of stored heat. The metal is heated by the fire, and then that heat is radiated into the room. The thick iron keeps the heat which would otherwise be lost and gives back this heat to the room. A fireback thus may increase the efficiency of the fire. Wood fires have low efficienc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pavements
Pavement(s) or paving may refer to: Surfacing * Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways * Sidewalk, a walkway along the side of a road, called a pavement in British English * Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface * Cool pavement, pavement that delivers higher solar reflectance than conventional dark pavement * Crazy paving, a means of hard-surfacing used outdoors * Nicolson pavement, a road surface material consisting of wooden blocks * Pavers (flooring), an outdoor floor done in blocks * Permeable paving, paving that enables stormwater to flow through it or between gaps * Portuguese pavement, the traditional paving used in most pedestrian areas in Portugal * Resin-bound paving, a mixture of aggregate stones and resin used to pave footpaths, driveways, etc. * Tactile paving, textured ground surface indicators to assist vision-impaired pedestrians * Whitetopping, the covering of an existing asphalt pavement with a layer of Portland cement concret ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Building Stone
Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rock (geology), rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings and other structures, like bridges. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-made products are in use, some more and some less synthetic. The manufacturing of building materials is an established industry in many countries and the use of these materials is typically segmented into specific specialty trades, such as carpentry, Building insulation, insulation, plumbing, and roofing material, roofing work. They provide the make-up of :Human habitats, habitats and architecture, structures including homes. The total cost of building materials In history, there are trends in building materials from being natural to becoming more human-made and Composite material, composite; biodegradable to imperishable; indigenous (local) to being transported globally; repairable to dis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bricks
A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building units made of other materials or other chemically cured construction blocks. Bricks can be joined using mortar, adhesives or by interlocking. Bricks are usually produced at brickworks in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region, and are produced in bulk quantities. ''Block'' is a similar term referring to a rectangular building unit composed of clay or concrete, but is usually larger than a brick. Lightweight bricks (also called lightweight blocks) are made from expanded clay aggregate. Fired bricks are one of the longest-lasting and strongest building materials, sometimes referred to as artificial stone, and have been used since . Air-dried bricks, also known as mudbricks, have a history older than fired ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructing buildings or other Structure#Load-bearing, structures. The term comes ; ; . Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as work of art, works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements. The practice, which began in the Prehistory, prehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressing culture by civilizations on all seven continents. For this reason, architecture is considered to be a form of art. Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times. The earliest surviving text on architectural theory, architectural theories is the 1st century AD treatise by the Roman architect Vitruvius, according to whom a good bui ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century, mostly in England. Increasingly serious and learned admirers sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, intending to complement or even supersede the Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival draws upon features of medieval examples, including decorative patterns, finials, lancet windows, and hood moulds. By the middle of the 19th century, Gothic Revival had become the pre-eminent architectural style in the Western world, only to begin to fall out of fashion in the 1880s and early 1890s. For some in England, the Gothic Revival movement had roots that were intertwined with philosophical movements associated with Catholicism and a re-awakening of high church or Anglo-Cathol ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colchester Castle
Colchester Castle is a Norman architecture, Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to it being built on the foundations of the Roman Temple of Claudius, Colchester, Temple of Claudius. The castle endured a three-month siege in 1216, but had fallen into disrepair by the seventeenth century when the Curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls and some of the keep's upper parts were demolished; its original height is debated. The remaining structure was used as a prison and was partially restored as a large garden pavilion, but was purchased by Colchester Borough Council in 1922. The castle has, since 1860, housed Colchester Museum, which has an important collection of Roman exhibits. It is a scheduled monument and a Grade I listed building. Construction The attribution of the castle as a royal foundation is based on a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Guildford Castle
Guildford Castle is in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is thought to have been built by William the Conqueror, or one of his barons, shortly after the Norman Conquest, 1066 invasion of England. History From the eleventh to the thirteenth century Construction and development After the Battle of Hastings in 1066 William led his army to Canterbury and then sacked towns along the Pilgrims' Way, including Guildford. Later William, or one of his barons, built Guildford Castle. There is no record of it in the Domesday Book of 1086, so construction probably started after that date. First to be built at the Castle would have been the Motte-and-bailey, motte (a mound) around which was a ditch and a Motte-and-bailey, bailey protected by a wooden palisade. The bailey's boundary would have run along Castle Street, South Hill, what is now Racks Close and parallel with Quarry Street (although slightly to the east). If it followed a typical Norman design the bailey would have been divided wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Suèvres
Suèvres () is a commune of the Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Population See also *Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes o ... References Communes of Loir-et-Cher {{LoirCher-geo-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular Normandy (mostly the British Channel Islands). It covers . Its population in 2017 was 3,499,280. The inhabitants of Normandy are known as Normans; the region is the historic homeland of the Norman language. Large settlements include Rouen, Caen, Le Havre and Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Cherbourg. The cultural region of Normandy is roughly similar to the historical Duchy of Normandy, which includes small areas now part of the departments of Mayenne and Sarthe. The Channel Islands (French: ''Îles Anglo-Normandes'') are also historically part of Normandy; they cover and comprise two bailiwicks: Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and Jersey, which are British Crown Dependencies. Normandy's name comes from the settlement of the territory by Vikings ( ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Querqueville
Querqueville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. 1 December 2015 The Chapel of Saint Germanus (''Chapelle Saint-Germain'') with its floorplan incorporates elements of one of the earliest surviving places of worship in the - perhaps second only to the Gallo-Roman baptistry at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |