Illustrated Architecture Dictionary

Wainscot(ing, ting)
wayne scot

An area of wooden paneling on the lower part of the walls of a room.

From the early Dutch/German meaning - literally - cut down/prepared/handled timber rather than standing/growing timber

This term originally seems to have implied rough planks of oak timber, and subsequently to have been given to wooden paneling

Often topped by a chair rail.

Very extensively employed during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and James I, and for a long period afterwards. The name has long- ceased to be confined to oak paneling

In Colonial America, the term referred to the sheathing applied over an entire interior wall surface in either a horizontal or vertical orientation.

American farmhouse wainscots:



Examples from Buffalo architecture:

Other examples:


Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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