A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a step pattern above the roof as a decoration and as a convenient way to finish the brick courses. A stepped parapet may appear on building facades with or without gable ends, and even upon a false front.
Geography The oldest examples can be seen in Ghent (Flanders, Belgium) and date from the 12th century, such as the Spijker house on the Graslei, and some other Romanesque buildings in the city. From there, they spread to the whole of Northern Europe from the 13th century, in particular in cities of the Hanseatic League (with brick Gothic style), and then to Central Europe by the next century. These gables are numerous in Belgium, France (French Flanders, Eastern Normandy, Picardy and Alsace), the Netherlands, all Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and the Baltic States. They are also present but much rarer in the British Isles although the Old Elizabethan Library at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, dates to 1590. Crow-stepped gables are especially common on traditional Flemish and Dutch houses and on mediaeval Danish churches. Crow-stepped gables were also used in Scotland as early as the 16th century. Examples of Scottish crow-stepped gables can be seen at Muchalls Castle, Monboddo House, and the Stonehaven Tolbooth, all late 16th and early 17th century buildings. Nineteenth-century examples are found in North America, and the step gable is also a feature of the northern-Renaissance Revival and Dutch Colonial Revival styles.
Architecture In some regions of France, it's a utilitarian element in the architecture of thatched rural houses, where flat stones cover the load-bearing walls. In other regions, such as northern France (notably in the Soissonnais region), or Scotland, it is a purely decorative element in ashlar. Another version of the stepped gable with a purely decorative role is found in so-called noble or urban architecture, mainly in northern and central Europe, such as Germany, Flanders and the Netherlands.
Rural architecture
In the rural architecture of various regions of France, the crenellated gables still visible on dwellings and barns are generally linked to the former existence of thatch roofing on these buildings, replaced during the 19th century by slate or flat tile roofing.
Usefulness The main advantages of the vertical projection of the gable slopes were to prevent the thatched roof from being “unplucked” in high winds, to facilitate access to the roof ridge and to act as a firebreak. In rural architecture, redents are generally covered with flat stones to protect them from the rain, prevent water infiltration into the load-bearing wall, and enable the roofer or road worker to place his tools. These stones often (but not always) slope downwards to allow rainwater to drain away. In the Campan valley (Hautes-Pyrénées), thatched roofs with overhanging gables can be found on temporary barns transformed into permanent farmhouses in the 19th century by family cadets, either by adding a single room (caouhadé or chauffoir) against a gable, or by creating a living space in the barn itself.
Rhône-Alpes In the Rhône-Alpes region, they are typical of the architecture of eastern Nord-Isère (Morestel and Crémieu cantons) and neighboring southern Bugey (villages of Izieu, Prémeyzel, Lhuis, Brégnier-Cordon, Arbignieu, etc.). They are also widespread in the traditional habitat of the northern Vercors (Quatre Montagnes).In Frangy, Haute-Savoie, not far from the Bugey region, a rare example of this type of gabled roof can be found at the Bel-Air farm, which is listed as a historic monument.
Central Pyrenees In the central Pyrenees, from Bigorre to Couserans, gabled roofs are a common feature of barn and sheepfold architecture.
Jura department In the villages of the Jura and Franche-Comté vineyards, some traditional Jura houses are built with gabled roofs.
Soissonnais Stepped gables, also known as sparrow-stepped gables, can be found in villages along the Aisne valley, mainly in the Soissonnais region, where they are particularly numerous, if not widespread, and have characterized local rural architecture since the Middle Ages. They can be found on all types of buildings, mainly rural houses, but also manor houses, barns, town houses and church steeples. The term “crenellations” was formerly used to describe these steps. These are small steps, often consisting of a single ashlar course, not covered with flat stone. They have no credible utilitarian role. Their use is purely decorative or identity-related. Such gables are less common in other parts of northern France. Although Flanders is not far away, the gables of the Soissonnais are very different from those of Flanders in shape and structure, and the long history of this tradition in France makes it unlikely that the two are related. The gables at Château de Pierrefonds, on the other hand, were designed by Viollet-le-Duc in the neo-Gothic style of the 19th century, and are a cross between Soissonnais and Flanders.
Urban architecture There's also a more monumental, urban version of cusped gables, found mainly in northern Europe, whose function is exclusively decorative or symbolic.
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