Quoin

---

title: "Quoin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["stonemasonry", "types-of-wall", "architectural-elements"] description: "Masonry blocks at the corner of a wall" topic_path: "general/stonemasonry" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quoin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Masonry blocks at the corner of a wall ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/RomaPalazzetto.jpg" caption="Quoining on the corners of [[Palazzo Aragona Gonzaga]], Rome"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Quoins_at_the_Templehouse_Walled_Garden,_Dunlop,East_Ayrshire(cropped).jpg" caption="Alternate horizontal quoining on a wall in [[East Ayrshire"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/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" caption="Porch quoins, [[Palazzo Giusti]], Verona"] ::

Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, these imply strength, permanence, and expense, all reinforcing the onlooker's sense of a structure's presence. | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=J0pQAAAAMAAJ&q=quoin+architecture&pg=PA576 | title= Encyclopaedia Perthensis | publisher= John Brown | year= 1816 | location= 576

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

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/1993-1994-Giardino_Giusti_(Verona)-testo_e_photo_Paolo_Villa-nA2-tesi_Accademia_Belle_Arti_Bologna-portone_di_Palazzo_Giusti.jpg" caption="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.

Alternate vertical

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/St_Benet's_Cambridge_stylesofarchitec00rick_0382_(cropped).jpg" caption="url=https://archive.org/details/stylesofarchitec00rick}}"] ::

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.

References

References

1. Rankine, William J. M.. (1862). "A Manual of Civil Engineering". Griffin, Bohn, and Co.
2. 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.
3. "Definitions for: Quoin".
4. Rickman, Thomas. (1848). "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". John Henry Parker.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::