Cruck

The Cruck is a wooden structural member in the English roof and vault. The word " cruck " is probably best described as " wooden belt bow " translated ( cruck = arched brace = curved strut ). In mirror-image arrangement gives the image of a pointed arch, but also partly a basket or flat arch. Noteworthy, this construction is of course because of their similarity to the Gothic stone pointed arch.

The " cruck " comes in a simple form already in primitive barns and stables anywhere in Europe and then forms a continuous from the floor to the ridge beam. In the English Gothic style, he was again taken up, as it provided an ideal opportunity to combine masonry and wood vaulted aesthetic. Here rests the " wooden supporting arches " in such a way on the outer walls that he also used as a support and support surface by its lower foothills is deep drawn down into the wall region. This leads to the great stability of this scaffold form, but that also works with correspondingly thick wood. A collar beam ties the transverse arches together at the top and spurred, horizontal, parallel to the direction of the nave extending support beam stabilizes the scaffold.

• Timber