Trail:

Glossary

Solar
Private upper chamber in a medieval house, accessible from the high or dais end of the great hall.
Solomonic columns
Columns with twisted spiral shafts, called after columns in Rome supposed to have come from Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Also called Salomonic columns, barley-sugar columns.
Sopraporta
Painting or relief above an internal door. Also called an overdoor.
Sounding-board
Flat canopy over a pulpit; also called a tester.
Souterrain
Underground stone-lined passage and chamber.
Space frame
A three-dimensional framework in which all the members are interconnected, designed to cover very large areas.
Spandrels
Roughly triangular spaces between an arch and its containing rectangle, or between adjacent arches. Also non-structural panels under the windows, especially on a curtain-walled building.
Spere
A fixed structure screening the lower end of the great hall from the screens passage. Spere truss: roof truss incorporated in the spere.
Spike
A thin spire of timber and lead, rising from the centre of a tower roof.
Spiral stair
A stair in a circular well with a central supporting newel. Also called a vice or (Scots) turnpike stair.