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An abat-son (plural usually abat-sons) is an architectural device constructed to reflect or direct sound in a particular direction. It consists of large
louver A louver (American English) or louvre (British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". Mor ...
s. The term is commonly used to refer to angled louvers in a
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
or belfry designed to redirect sound or to prevent ingress of water. Abat-son can also refer to a louver or board used in the device. These boards or sheets are typically made of wood or metal. The term comes from the French term of the same name, which literally means "to strike down" (abat) the "sound" (son) or "sounds" (sons).


In the windshields

The slats, generally of the grid type and fixed to a carpentry frame, are usually made of wood or covered with metal, slate or lead; In addition to redirecting the sound of the bells towards the ground, they prevent rain or snow from penetrating the bell tower and allow the tower's carpentry to be ventilated. «Beffroi», is an architectural technical
Gallicism A Gallicism can be: * a mode of speech peculiar to the French; * a French idiom; * in general, a French mode or custom. * a loanword, word or phrase borrowed from French. See also * Francization * Franglais * Gallic (disambiguation) * Gallican ...
that appeared in the 19th century, replacing the popular name of «windscreen» (abat-vent). Loudspeakers are often inserted into twin bays on each of the steeple faces, more rarely in the skylights of steeple arrows. These vain bell towers are typically flanked by columns with
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
s and
decorations Decoration may refer to: * Decorative arts * A house painter and decorator's craft * An act or object intended to increase the beauty of a person, room, etc. * An award that is a token of recognition to the recipient intended for wearing Other ...
, in Romanesque architecture, with archivolts, and with interlocking fretwork in Gothic architecture. Turntables developed especially from the 13th century, and were often already decorated with fretwork, serrated bottoms, or embossed in lead.


Gallery

File:Trélissac église chapiteau abat-son (2).JPG, A church in
Trélissac Trélissac (; oc, Trelhissac) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Dordogne department The following is a list of the 503 communes of the Dordogne depart ...
File:La Tour-Blanche église abat-sons.JPG, Church of Saints Peter and Paul, La Tour-Blanche File:Echourgnac église abat-son.JPG, Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Échourgnac


References


Further reading

* Sturgis, Russell, et al., eds. (1902) "Abat-Sons". ''Dictionary of Architecture''. Reprinted 1989 as ''Sturgis' Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture and Building'' Vol. I A–E. New York: Dover Publications. . Architectural elements


External links

* {{architecturalelement-stub