Perhaps the most striking feature of this charming style as we see it in the best old English cottages, is the pointed gable. This feature, which grows out of the high roofs adopted, not only appears in the two ends of the main building, but terminates every wing or projection of almost any size that joins to the principal body of the house. The gables are either of stone or brick, with a handsome moulded coping, or they are finished with the widely projecting roof of wood, and verge boards, carved in a fanciful and highly decorative shape. In either case, the point or apex is crowned by a finial, or ornamental octagonal shaft, rendering the gable one of the greatest sources of interest in these dwellings. The projecting roof renders the walls always dry.
