Editing Gargoyle (section)

== History ==
The term ''gargoyle'' is most often applied to [[medieval]] work, but throughout all ages, some means of water diversion, when not conveyed in gutters, was adopted.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In [[ancient Egypt]]ian architecture, gargoyles showed little variation, typically in the form of a lion's head.<ref name="Clarke Engelbach 1930" /> Similar lion-mouthed water spouts were also seen on [[Greek temple]]s, carved or modelled in the [[marble sculpture|marble]] or [[terracotta]] [[cymatium]] of the [[cornice (architecture)|cornice]].<ref name="Dinsmoor Anderson 1950" /> An excellent example of this are the 39 remaining lion-headed water spouts on the [[Temple of Zeus, Olympia|Temple of Zeus]].{{clarify|date=April 2021|reason=The Temple of Zeus is a pile of rubble. It has no remaining water spouts on it. Explain.}} Originally, it had 102 gargoyles or spouts, but due to the heavy weight (they were crafted from marble), many snapped off and had to be replaced.<ref name="Willemsen 1959" /><ref name="Swaddling 1980" />

Many medieval cathedrals included gargoyles and chimeras.<ref name="Fudgé 2016 p. 91" /> According to French architect and author [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]], himself one of the great producers of gargoyles in the 19th century,<ref name="Hourihane 2012 p. 642" /> the earliest known medieval gargoyles appear on [[Laon Cathedral]] (c. 1200–1220).<ref name="Weinstock 2016 p. 248" /> One of the more famous examples is the gargoyles of [[Notre-Dame de Paris]], which dons 54 chimeras crowded around the railings of the cathedral that came to be in the 1843 restoration project.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Camille |first=Michael |title=The Gargoyles of Notre Dame: Medievalism and the Monsters of Modernity |date=Nov 15, 2008 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226092461}}</ref> Although most have grotesque features, the term gargoyle has come to include all types of images. Some gargoyles were depicted as monks, or combinations of real animals and people, many of which were humorous. Unusual animal mixtures, or chimeras, did not act as rainspouts and are more properly called grotesques. They serve as ornamentation but are now popularly called gargoyles.
[[File:Manchester City Centre Gargoyle.jpg|thumb|Gargoyle spewing water in [[Manchester city centre]], UK]]
Both ornamented and unornamented waterspouts projecting from roofs at parapet level were a common device used to shed rainwater from buildings until the early 18th century. From that time, more and more buildings used drainpipes to carry the water from the [[Rain gutter|guttering]] roof to the ground and only very few buildings using gargoyles were constructed.  This was because some people found them frightening, and sometimes heavy ones fell off, causing damage. The [[London Building Act 1724]] ([[11 Geo. 1]]. c. 28), passed by the [[Parliament of Great Britain]] made the use of downpipes compulsory in all new construction.<ref name="Holy Horrors" />