{{Short description|Small holes in walls to hold scaffolding}} thumb|Putlog holes in Cardiff castle '''Putlog holes''' or '''putlock holes'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/putlog|title=Definition of PUTLOG}}</ref> are small holes made in the walls of structures to receive the ends of poles (small round logs) or beams, called putlogs or putlocks, to support a scaffolding.<ref>''Putlog holes.'' In: {{cite book |date=2015 |editor1-last= Weyer |editor1-first=Angela |editor2-last=Roig Picazo |editor2-first=Pilar |editor3-last=Pop |editor3-first=Daniel |editor4-last=Cassar |editor4-first=JoAnn |editor5-last=Özköse |editor5-first= Aysun |editor6-last=Vallet |editor6-first=Jean-Marc |editor7-last=Srša |editor7-first= Ivan |title=EwaGlos. European Illustrated Glossary Of Conservation Terms For Wall Paintings And Architectural Surfaces. English Definitions with translations into Bulgarian, Croatian, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Spanish and Turkish. |url= http://elearn.hawk-hhg.de/projekte/ewaglos/pages/download.php |location=Petersberg |publisher=Michael Imhof |page=122 |doi=10.5165/hawk-hhg/233|last1= Weyer |first1= Angela |last2= Roig Picazo |first2= Pilar |last3= Pop |first3= Daniel |last4= Cassar |first4= JoAnn |last5= Özköse |first5= Aysun |last6= Jean-Marc |first6= Vallet |last7= Srša |first7= Ivan (Ed.) }}</ref> Putlog holes may extend through a wall to provide staging on both sides of the wall.
A historically common type of scaffolding, putlog holes date from ancient Roman buildings. The term putlock and the newer term putlog date from the 17th century<ref>Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0)© Oxford University Press 2009. Putlog, putlock, n.</ref> and are still used today.<ref>Chudley, R., and Roger Greeno. ''Building construction handbook''. 8th ed. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2010. 140–144. Print.</ref> Putlogs may be supported on the outer ends by vertical poles (standards), cantilevered by one end being firmly embedded in the wall, or cantilevered by penetrating the wall to provide scaffolds on both sides. Putlogs may be sawn off flush with the wall if they cannot be removed,<ref>Adam, Jean Pierre. ''Roman building: materials and techniques''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994. 151–152. Print.</ref> but exterior putlog holes are typically filled in as the scaffold is removed to prevent water from entering the walls. Interior putlog holes may be left open, particularly if not in a finished space.
The inconsequential size and the spacing of the holes meant that they did not affect the solidity of the walls, and in well-preserved castles, like Beaumaris, the ancient putlog holes can be seen to this day.
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="180"> File:Aigues-Mortes.jpg|Putlog holes for hoardings are visible running along the top of the wall at Aigues-Mortes, France. File:Echafaud.donjon.Coucy.2.png|Cantilevered putlogs support the access ramp scaffold in this castle construction. File:HEBI-Richtfest-5.jpg|Most of the putlogs are still in place in this scaffolding; thus, the holes are visible. File:Mendel II 054 r.jpg|A German plasterer at work with putlogs going into the half-timbered (fachwerk) walls File:Putlock Construction, St Mary Magdalene Great Burstead.jpg|14th-century West Tower at St Mary Magdalene church, Great Burstead, Essex, showing original putlog holes from artisans </gallery> {{-}}
==See also== *Viga (architecture)
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Archhistory}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Putlog Hole}} Category:Castle architecture Category:Medieval architecture Category:Architectural elements Category:Scaffolding
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