Spire

A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure placed on top of a roof or tower, most often seen at the highest point of church steeples. These structures can have different shapes, such as square, circular, or polygonal, and usually have a conical or pyramidal form. Spires are commonly built from stonework or brickwork, or sometimes from timber covered with metal, ceramic tiles, roof shingles, or slates.

Because the towers that hold spires are often square, spires with a square base grow directly from the tower’s walls. However, octagonal spires are special — they are often placed above a pyramid-shaped section called a broach, or they are designed with open spaces around the tower’s top to include decorative details like pinnacles. Short, small spires are sometimes called spikes, spirelets, or flèches.

Etymology

The word "spire" has been used in English since the 1590s. It comes from an old word in Middle Low German and is related to an Old English word that means a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass.

Gothic spires

Gothic church spires began in the 12th century as simple, four-sided pointed tops on church towers. These spires could be made from stone, like at Salisbury Cathedral, or from wood covered with lead, like at Notre-Dame de Paris. Over time, spires grew taller and more complex. Extra stone pieces called broaches were added at angles to the tower sides, as seen at St Columba, Cologne. Decorations like small gabled windows, known as dormers, and thin pyramid-shaped pinnacles were also added.

By the late 13th century, spires reached great heights. For example, Freiburg Minster in Germany had a spire and lantern that stood 385 feet tall. In England, tall, thin spires were sometimes built at the edge of towers, with pinnacles at the corners, like at Lichfield Cathedral. Because spires were delicate in the wind, some fell down over the years. To keep them standing, builders added supports like buttresses, arches, and iron ties. The spire at Salisbury Cathedral, finished in 1320 and 404 feet tall, needed these supports to stay upright. Later, architect Christopher Wren added special beams to stop the spire from changing shape. Openwork spires, where stonework was pierced and held together by iron, were an important new design that made structures lighter and more elegant.

Crown spires

Main article: Crown spire

Crown spires have a structure with open arches, similar to the design of a medieval European crown. These spires are held up by strong supports called buttresses.

Needle-spires and Hertfordshire spikes

Main article: Hertfordshire spike

A needle-spire is a very tall and thin spire that rises from a tower which is surrounded by a parapet. These spires are usually larger and more detailed than another type called a Hertfordshire spike.

A Hertfordshire spike is a short spire or tower topping found on churches in the British Isles. It is often ringed with a parapet.

Splay-foot

The roofs of splay-foot spires spread out and flatten at the base. This creates eaves above the tower that supports the spire.

Flèches

Main article: Flèche (architecture)

A flèche is a special kind of spire found in old buildings, especially churches. In French, the word means "arrow," and it describes a small, pointed tower on a roof. These tiny spires were often built on top of the main part of a church where the center aisle crosses other sections. They were usually made of wood covered with shiny metal like lead or copper and decorated with pretty designs and small supports.

One famous flèche was built on Notre-Dame de Paris in the 1800s by an architect named Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. It was very tall—about 100 feet—and had lots of detailed carvings. The original one from the 1200s was taken down in 1786, and the beautiful 1800s version was lost in a big fire in 2019. People plan to rebuild it to look the same way it did before.

Pinnacles

Main article: Pinnacle

A pinnacle is a small, decorative spire used on buildings. In early Gothic architecture, like at Notre-Dame de Paris, stone pinnacles were placed on top of flying buttresses to add weight and support. They also helped balance the push from the rib vaults in the main hall. Later, they were used to add beauty to flat parts of roofs and towers, sometimes grouped together to look like a forest of vertical shapes.

Traditional types of spires

Traditional spires come in many shapes and sizes, each with its own special look. One common type is the conical stone spire, usually found on small, round towers. Another is the masonry spire, often seen on big churches and cathedrals with square towers. These can be pyramid-shaped on smaller towers or octagonal on larger ones. An example is the famous spire of Salisbury Cathedral, which has been standing tall since the 1200s.

Openwork spires are made of a network of stone patterns, letting light through and allowing them to grow very tall. Some of the world’s tallest church spires are like this. There are also complex spires that mix solid stone with open patterns, and clad spires made of wood covered in metal, tiles, or shingles. These can be pyramid-shaped, have a special four-sided roof called a Rhenish helm, an octagonal shape called a broach spire, or even a bell shape common in parts of Europe.

Notable spires

• Lincoln Cathedral once had a very tall spire that was the world's tallest building for many years until it fell down.
• Salisbury Cathedral has a tall spire that has been the tallest church spire in the British Isles for a long time.
• St Mary's Church, Stralsund had a tall spire that was one of the world's tallest buildings until it was struck by lightning.
• Cologne Cathedral has tall spires that were built over many years and are now the tallest pair of spires on a cathedral.
• St Martin's Church, Landshut has a tall tower made of brick, making it the tallest brick church in the world.
• The spire at Burghley House in England is an example of a spire on a home rather than a church.
• The spire of Antwerp Cathedral is the tallest church structure in the Low Countries.
• The spires of Uppsala Cathedral are the tallest in Scandinavia.
• Ulm Minster in Germany has the tallest church tower in Europe.
• The Spire of Notre-Dame de Paris was a well-known feature of the Paris cathedral until 2019.
• The spires of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudi, mix Gothic style with Gaudi's unique designs and are still being completed today.

Religious symbolism

In Gothic architecture, especially in Gothic cathedrals and churches, spires were built to show the high hopes of the people who built them. They also looked very tall and impressive. Because they looked like spear points, spires were also thought to show the strength of religion.

List of tallest spires (skyscraper)