H

half timbering: A method of construction in which the wooden frame and principal beams of a building are exposed, and the spaces between them are covered with plaster or masonry. Usually used in domestic architecture.

hall crypt: A crypt in the form of a large space of uniform height, subdivided by columns.

Other types of crypt: confessio
See also crypt

hammer beam: A short horizontal beam, usually made of wood, extending from the top of a masonry wall outward towards the center of the enclosed space, but not completely traversing it. The projecting end is usually connected to the roof with a diagonal brace. The protruding ends of hammer beams were often elaborately carved.

hanging arch: An arch which has, or seems to have, no vertical supports.

Compare with:blind arch

hemicycle: The group of columns, arranged in a semicircular formation, that divide the east end of a choir from the ambulatory.

See also ambulatory, choir

historiated or figured capital: A capital which is decorated with figures of animals, birds, or humans, used either alone or combined with foliage. The figures need not have any meaning, although they may be symbolic or part of a narrative sequence. Historiated capitals were most commonly used in the Romanesque from the late eleventh to mid-twelfth centuries.

See also capital
See also other types of capital

historiated or figured initial: An illuminated initial containing a figure, a group of figures, or a narrative scene.

See also:illuminated initial, historiated capital
Other types of illuminated initial: foliate, inhabited, pen flourished

hoarding The use of covered wooden galleries (or hoards) erected on upper walls of a castle for defensive purposes.

See also battlement,machicolation

hood molding: A projecting molding on the wall above an arch.

Compare withrelieving arch

horseshoe arch: An arch shaped like a horseshoe. It is found particularly in Spain or in buildings influenced by Spanish ones.

See also arch.
Compare with other types of arches.