C O N T E X T 1 2 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 3 33 Belgium and the Dutch colonial settlements.The historic perspective can be distorted though by more modern rebuilding in this style, such as occurred in Belgium. There, large-scale, post-second-world-war reconstruction in the Flemish style had a major impact, ‘correcting the architecture’ and introducing crow-stepped gables sometimes where they did not previously exist. Early examples of stepped gables survive from the 15th century in England, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden – and, from the 16th century, in Scotland. Unlike East Anglia and the Netherlands, Fife did not have a tradition of building in brick but had an abundance of building stone. Stone being less easy to fashion into intricate gable shapes than brick and render, it no doubt favoured the simpler stepped style of gable. The old, narrow formof stepped gable,which developed in Scotland, however, had its own distinctive character, different from that seen on the continent. Also known as ‘crawstep’ or ‘crowstep’ gables, the breadth is no more than between 150mm and 200mm. Steps are on average 250mm high and the depth will vary, according to the roof pitch, between 150mm and 180mm.A variation can be found in Orkney, which has examples of gables with diminishing-sized steps. The later gothic and baronial styles of stepped gable, in the last quarter of the 19th century, belong more to the continent than Scotland. Another factor which may have contributed to the prevalence of the stepped gable in Fife was the increasing availability and use of pantiles for roofs, which occurred at about the same time.Also known as Flemish tiles, this type had developed in the Low Countries in the 15th and 16th centuries from the earlier Roman forms of roof tile. ‘Pan’ is Dutch for tile, although it is also suggested that the derivation may be from the Finnish ‘paan’ meaning shingle. At the beginning, in the 16th century, they were used only on high-status buildings, but later, as the cost came down, on ever more modest buildings, until they reached a peak in the 19th century. Thatched roofs may have already had roughly finished, slightly raised, gable walls, providing support for turf and thatch at the gables.The custom was to take the thatch over the gable wall head. On changing to pantiles, which are particularly prone to being lifted by the wind, the (Left) A blue-grey pantile roof with slate easing course (Far left) A Category B listed 17th century sea captain’s house at Pittenweem harbour, East Neuk (Below) A Category A listed late 17th century house with additional curvilinear gablet at Pittenweem harbour
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