GABLE, the upper part of the end-walls of a building cov ered by a roof that slopes down from the centre to each side; hence the gable is always pointed in general form and usually triangular. In cases like the gambrel roof (q.v.) where the roof is in two slopes on each side, the gable becomes pentagonal. In classic work, where the slopes are low and where a cornice is continued across the end-walls connecting the eaves, the gable is called a pediment (q.v.). The architectural treatment of the gable results from the effort to find a beautiful solution to the problem of keeping water out of the intersection of walls and roof. This was done either by carrying the roof out over the top of the end-walls and finishing it with a moulding, sloping cornices or a projecting, bracketed board known as a bargeboard (q.v..) ; or by carrying up the end-walls above the roof level and capping them with a water-proof coping or cap. The former method is general in wooden buildings, and in those of small size or little architectural formality; the latter in larger and more monumental masonry structures, particularly in the Gothic and early Renais sance styles. In north and west Europe, where roofs of steep pitch are general, gables are often richly decorated and finished at the top with a series of steps or fantastic breaks often curved, and in the Renaissance period further ornamented with obelisks, urns, statues and scrolls, as in the town-hall of Bremen (1609), the Friedrichsbau at Heidelberg castle (c. 1590), or the town-hall of Antwerp 0560. In England, stepped and curved sided gables are common during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, as in many of the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge ; more complicated forms rich with scrolls and strap work are used as decorations for wall coverings, as in Wollaton hall, Nottingham (last quarter of the 16th century) .
During the Gothic period gables were decorated with crockets (q.v.) and finials (q.v.), and sometimes, especially from the 14th century on, with tracery. Gables were also used purely as decora tion, without roofs behind; the French flamboyant churches are unusually rich with examples of pierced and traceried gables, very similar to those of the porch of St. Maclou at Rouen (begun 1432).
Gables are important features in the architecture of China and Japan (see CHINESE ARCHITECTURE, JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE).
In north China and Japan, gables follow the roof slope and are ornamented with rich projecting roof tiles, grotesque animals at the ridge and eaves, and occasionally with surface patterns. In south China stepped gables are more common.