# Quoin

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{{short description|Masonry blocks at the corner of a wall}}
{{about|the architectural technique}}
[[File:RomaPalazzetto.jpg|thumb|right|Quoining on the corners of [Palazzo Aragona Gonzaga](/source/Palazzo_Aragona_Gonzaga), Rome]]
[[File:Quoins at the Templehouse Walled Garden, Dunlop, East Ayrshire (cropped).jpg|thumb|Alternate horizontal quoining on a wall in [East Ayrshire](/source/East_Ayrshire)]]
[[File:1993-1994-Giardino Giusti (Verona)-testo e photo Paolo Villa-nA04 (light and perspective corrections) -tesi Accademia Belle Arti Bologna-cortile e portico di Palazzo Giusti-Kodak EKTACHROME ELITE 200 5056.jpg|thumb|right|Porch quoins, [Palazzo Giusti](/source/Palazzo_Giusti), Verona]]
'''Quoins''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɔɪ|n|}} <small>or</small> {{IPAc-en|k|w|ɔɪ|n|}}) are [masonry](/source/masonry) blocks at the corner of a wall.<ref>{{cite book | title= A Manual of Civil Engineering | url= https://archive.org/details/amanualcivileng03rankgoog | first= William J. M. |last= Rankine | author-link= William John Macquorn Rankine | publisher = Griffin, Bohn, and Co | year = 1862 | page= [https://archive.org/details/amanualcivileng03rankgoog/page/n408 385]}}</ref> Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior [stone](/source/rock_(geology)) or [rubble](/source/Rubble_masonry),<ref>Charles F.Mitchell. Building Construction. Part&nbsp;1. First Stage or Elementary Course. Second Edition—Revised. Published by B.T. Batsford, 52 High Holborn. 1889. Page&nbsp;48.</ref> while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://blogmybrain.com/scrabble-word-finder/word/quoin.htm | title= Definitions for: Quoin | access-date= 12 May 2014}}</ref> According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, these imply strength, permanence, and expense, all reinforcing the onlooker's sense of a structure's presence.<ref>
{{cite book
 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=J0pQAAAAMAAJ&q=quoin+architecture&pg=PA576
 | title= Encyclopaedia Perthensis
 | publisher= John Brown
 | year= 1816 | location= 576
}}
</ref>

Stone quoins are used on stone or brick buildings. Brick quoins may appear on brick buildings, extending from the facing [brickwork](/source/brickwork) in such a way as to give the appearance of generally uniformly cut [ashlar](/source/ashlar) blocks of stone larger than the bricks. Where quoins are decorative and non-load-bearing a wider variety of materials is used, including [timber](/source/timber_framing), [stucco](/source/stucco), or other [cement render](/source/cement_render).

==Techniques==
[[File:1993-1994-Giardino Giusti (Verona)-testo e photo Paolo Villa-nA2-tesi Accademia Belle Arti Bologna-portone di Palazzo Giusti.jpg|thumb|Rustic quoins and [keystone](/source/Keystone_(architecture)) on the main entrance to the [Palazzo Giusti](/source/Palazzo_Giusti), Verona]]

===Ashlar blocks===
In a traditional, often decorative use, large rectangular [ashlar](/source/ashlar) 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 stone](/source/corner_stone)s are used, alternating between stones of different thickness, with typically the larger cornerstones thinner than the smaller.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}}

===Alternate vertical===
thumb|upright=0.75|left|Tower of St Bene't's, Cambridge, showing long and short work<ref name=Rickman>{{cite book |last=Rickman |first=Thomas |title=An attempt to discriminate the styles of architecture in England : from the Conquest to the Reformation : with a sketch of the Grecian and Roman orders : notices of numerous British edifices :and some remarks on the architecture of a part of France |date=1848 |publisher=John Henry Parker |location=London |edition=Fifth |page=Appendix-xxii |url=https://archive.org/details/stylesofarchitec00rick}}</ref>
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](/source/Anglo-Saxon_architecture) buildings such as [St Bene't's Church](/source/St_Bene't's_Church) in Cambridge, England.<ref name=Rickman/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikt | quoin}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Quoins|volume=22}}

Category:Stonemasonry
Category:Types of wall
Category:Architectural elements

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Quoin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quoin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quoin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.