{{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, Rome]] [[File:Quoins at the Templehouse Walled Garden, Dunlop, East Ayrshire (cropped).jpg|thumb|Alternate horizontal quoining on a wall in 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, Verona]] '''Quoins''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɔɪ|n|}} <small>or</small> {{IPAc-en|k|w|ɔɪ|n|}}) are 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 or rubble,<ref>Charles F.Mitchell. Building Construction. Part 1. First Stage or Elementary Course. Second Edition—Revised. Published by B.T. Batsford, 52 High Holborn. 1889. Page 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 in such a way as to give the appearance of generally uniformly cut 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, stucco, or other 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 on the main entrance to the Palazzo Giusti, Verona]]
===Ashlar blocks=== In a traditional, often decorative use, large rectangular 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 stones 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 buildings such as 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