Shaft (2)

Shaft

the body of a column or pillar; the part between the capital and base. In Middle-Age architecture the term is particularly applied to the small columns which are clustered round pillars, or used in the jambs of doors and windows, in arcades, and various other situations. They are sometimes cut on the same stones as the main body of the work to which they are attached, and sometimes of separate pieces. In the latter case they are very commonly of a different material from the rest of the work, and are not unfrequently polished this mode of construction appears to have been first introduced towards the end of the Norman style. In Early Norman work they are circular, but later in the style they are occasionally octagonal, and are sometimes ornamented with zigzags, spiral moldings, etc. In the Early English style they are almost always circular, generally in separate stones from the other work to which they are attached, and very, often banded; in some instances they have a narrow fillet running up them. In the Decorated style they are commonly not set separate, and are frequently so small as to be no more than vertical moldings with capitals and bases; they are usually round and filleted, but are sometimes of other forms. In the Perpendicular style they are cut on the same stones with the rest of the work. They are most generally round, and are sometimes filleted; in some cases they are polygonal, with each side slightly hollowed. The part of a chimney stack between the base and cornice is called the shaft.