Introduction

Chevron is a form of three-dimensional architectural ornament consisting of zigzags formed by a roll or rolls. The term 'zigzag' is itself reserved for the essentially two-dimensional form without rolls.

Following heraldic usage, a single unit should be 'one chevron', and the plural 'chevrons'. Various collective nouns have been used in the past to refer to chevron ornament: 'strand', 'band', 'set' and 'row' of chevrons being the commonest. The first two fail to convey the idea of separate, repeated units, and 'set' has no connotation of linearity. 'Row' therefore seems the best choice, since it is generally used to describe a line of similar objects, e.g. teeth, pearls, cinema seats.

Part 1: The Grammar of Chevron Description

Position and Direction

Chevron ornament is most commonly found decorating the orders of an arch. The difficulties experienced in describing it both adequately and systematically arise from the number of different forms ii can take. It may be found on the face, the soffit (underside) or the edge of an order and the chevrons themselves can point in various directions with respect to the surface on which they are carved.

Pl.1. Middleton

Pl.2. Albourne

Plate 1 shows the south doorway arch of Middleton (Suffolk), for example, with 2 rows of chevrons projecting from the face of the inner arch order, while at Albourne (Sussex) the chancel arch has 3 rows of chevron carved in the plane of the face.

The same variety is found in soffit chevrons. Compare, for example, Great Rollright (pl.3) and Avebury (pl.4).

Pl.3. Great Rollright, Oxfordshire. S nave doorway

Pl.4. Avebury, Wiltshire. S nave doorway

Lateral, Frontal and Edge Chevron

When describing chevron, therefore, account must be taken both of their position (on face, soffit, or edge) and their direction relative to the surface on which they are carved. We use the terms lateral and frontal to describe the direction of chevron ornament.

Pl.5. Durham Cathedral chapter house

Lateral chevrons are carved parallel to the surface of the stone - i.e. parallel to the face of an order if they are on the face, or parallel to the soffit if they are on the soffit. Thus Albourne (Pl.2) has 3 rows of chevron lateral to the face, while the Durham Cathedral chapter house windows (pl.5) have lateral chevron on both face and soffit.

Frontal chevrons are carved to project at right angles from the surface of the stone - i.e. at right angles to the face if they are on the face, or at right angles to the soffit if they are on the soffit. So Middleton has two rows of frontal face chevrons while Avebury has two rows of chevron frontal to the soffit.

Gaping chevron

Pl.6. Heydour, Lincolnshire

When 2 or more rows of frontal chevron are carved so that they splay out, we call them gaping chevron because of their similarity to a row of open mouths. They can be seen on a reset arch at Heydour (pl.6) and they are a common form in the Infirmary Hall at Ely Cathedral.

Lateral and frontal ambiguities

Because the sculptor has to carve both the face and the soffit of a voussoir, a problem can arise in describing a single row of chevron whether it's on the face or the soffit.

Pl.7 Cholsey, S doorway

Pl.8 Sherburn-in-Elmet, S porch entrance

Compare, for example, the chevron at Cholsey and Sherburn-in-Elmet (Pls 7 and 8). Cholsey could be described as a single row of chevron lateral to the face or a single row frontal to the soffit, while Sherburn could be called a single row lateral to the soffit or a single row frontal to the face. In practice it is best to treat both of these as lateral chevron, because extra decoration has been applied to the lateral face of both.

Pl. 9. Everton, chancel arch

Pl.10. Clymping, S transept doorway

Edge Chevron is generally carved flat on the plane of a chamfered edge, as at Everton, Notts (Pl.9) and it is convenient to reserve the term 'edge chevron' for this form. The less common type found on the outer jamb of the S transept doorway at Clymping, Sussex (Pl.10) and at Glastonbury, where the chevrons project from the edge at an angle, should be described as 'projecting edge chevron'. If the entire arch order is chamfered, we refer to the ornament as Angled Chevron, or chevron on an angled order (see below, Chevron ornament on curved and angled orders).

Carving Chevron Voussoirs

Pl.11. Bosham, Sussex. Loose voussoirs from a doorway

Pl.12. Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire. S nave arcade E arch

A sculptor faced with the task of carving an order of lateral face chevron will normally (but not always) carve one chevron on each voussoir. There are two ways of doing this: with the point of each unit facing out, towards the broad end of the voussoir; or with the point facing inwards, towards the narrow end. Compare, for example, loose sculpture from Bosham, pl.11, with the first order at Sutton Courtenay, pl.12. While both techniques are common, the effect is very different. We use the term centrifugal for chevron voussoirs carved with the chevrons pointing outwards like Bosham, and centripetal for the Sutton Courtenay type, by analogy with the use of these terms in describing rose windows.

Moulding Profiles in chevron arches

Pl.13. Salford Priors, N doorway, Warwickshire

Chevron ornament is often composed of a sequence of roll- and hollow-mouldings. At Salford Priors (pl.13) it is described as follows, the arch has four rows of centrifugal chevron lateral to the face, of the profile roll/hollow/roll/hollow. Chevron ornament sometimes includes other features such as beading in the hollows and this should also be included in the description.

Stepped Chevron

Pl.14. Iffley, Oxfordshire, W doorway

Sometimes rows of lateral chevron form a stepped profile, as on the inner order of the W doorway at Iffley, Oxfordshire (pl. 14), which has four rows of stepped centripetal chevron lateral to the face. In fact stepped chevron is invariably centripetal, as it gains its dramatic effect from the sharp inward-pointing chevrons. This is particularly marked in the continuous orders at Iffley.

Point-to-point, Back-to-back

Pl.15. Elkstone, Gloucestershire chancel arch

Pl.16. East Lavant, Sussex, W doorway

Where lateral face and soffit chevrons are carved on the same order with their points meeting, the result is point-to-point chevron (Elkstone, pl.15). Where frontal face and soffit chevrons are carved symmetrically on the same order, the result is back-to-back (East Lavant, Sussex, pl.16). The former is much more common than the latter, and in both cases the chevron is likely to be centripetal rather than centrifugal. Sometimes the points meet over a roll, and sometimes too they are connected forming lozenges on the angle (see Benhall, pl. 17).

Pl.17. Benhall, Suffolk, S doorway

Chevron ornament on curved and angled orders

Pl. 18. Durham cathedral, N nave doorway interior

Later in the 12thc. arch orders are sometimes angled or chamfered so that the distinction between face and soffit no longer applies. The same is true for curved or quadrant orders, and in these cases the chevron ornament is simply described in the usual way, adding the information that the order is curved or chamfered. An example from Durham Cathedral is shown in pl.18.

Vault Ribs

Pl.19. Iffley, Oxfordshire, chancel vault

Vault ribs can usually be described in the same way as other arches. lffley (pl.19), for example, has two rows of irregular lateral chevrons, stepped, on either side of the soffit, with a row of irregular lozenges along the centre. It is sometimes difficult to decide whether the carving is on the face or the soffit of a rib, but the problem can usually be resolved by looking at the springing rather than the apex of the vault.

Part 2: The Treatment of the Edge of an Order

Special treatment is sometimes given to edges. Four types are described here:

Pl. 20. Aston, Herefordshire, N doorway

Pl. 21. Stillingfleet, Yorkshire. N doorway

The inner edge of lateral face chevron may be undercut to leave a serrated edge, as at Cholsey (pl.7). Wedges may be carved between the points at the inner edge of lateral face chevron, producing cogwheel edge, as at Aston (pl.20). An edge roll may be carved, especially with point-to-point or back-to-back chevron (see pl.16). An ornamental edge may be carved, for example repeated motifs may occur on the edge between the points of point-to-point chevron as at Stillingfleet (pl.21) where there are bosses between the points.

Part 3: Variations of Chevron Ornament

Hyphenated Chevrons

These are chevrons separated by straight sections, and the chevron can be lateral, frontal or even point-to-point. Pls. 22 and 23 show examples of frontal and lateral point-to-point from the Infirmary Hall at Ely Cathedral.

Pl. 22. Ely Infirmary Hall. Frontal hyphenated chevron

Pl.23. Ely Infirmary. Lateral point-to-point hyphenated chevron

Syncopated Chevrons

Pl.24. Rothwell, Northamptonshire, W doorway

When two rows of hypenated chevrons are juxtaposed on a face or soffit so that the points of one row are directed towards the hyphens of the other, they are described as syncopated. At Rothwell we see syncopated chevron on the outer order of the W doorway, where a row of hyphenated chevron on the face is syncopated with a similar row on the soffit.

Limping Chevrons

Pl. 25. Garway, Herefordshire. Chancel arch

Related to hyphenated chevrons is a variety in which regular chevrons alternate with shallower ones in the same row. These are called limping chevrons, and an example is found at Garway (pl.25, second order): two rows of limping chevrons point-to-point with one row of projecting edge chevrons between.

Hyphenated Lozenges

Pl.26. Shrawley, Worcestershire. S doorway

Lozenges can be hyphenated in much the same way as chevrons, and at Shrawley, Worcestershire (pl. 26) we see a combination of hyphenated lozenges and point-to-point hyphenated chevron.

Part 4: Directional Chevron

Pl. 27, Amberley, Sussex. Chancel arch

Pl. 28. Steyning, Sussex. S nave arcade

The usual form is of chevron units carved lateral to a face or soffit so as to form nested V-shapes rather than a zigzag line. All the Vs might point the same way, but usually there is a change of direction at the top of the arch, as on the chancel arch at Amberley (pl.27), middle order.

A variation occurs when each chevron is carved half on the face and half on the soffit, with the points running over the arris of the order, see Steyning (pl.28). This variety might conveniently be called straddling directional chevron. See also Part 5 for the free­ standing form.

Part 5: Free-standing Chevrons and Lozenges

Pl. 29. Worksop Priory, Nottinghamshire, W doorway.

A late form of chevron is that in which the solid interior of the triangle is cut out, the roll only remaining. This is known as free-standing chevron. There is also a free-standing form of straddling directional chevron where the Vs occupy both face and soffit of an order, straddling an edge roll. Both of these free-standing forms occur on the W doorway of Worksop Priory (pl.29).