Editing Coping (architecture) (section)

{{short description|Covering for the top of a wall}}
{{For|the method of joining wood and moldings at right angles|Coping (joinery)}}

[[File:Bridge 98, Lancaster Canal - geograph.org.uk - 1773863.jpg|thumb|A bridge on the [[Lancaster Canal]], featuring coping stones linked by large metal "staples".]]

'''Coping''' (from ''cope'', Latin ''capa'') is the capping or covering of a [[wall]].<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Coping|volume=7|page=101|inline=1}}</ref> A '''splayed''' or '''wedge coping''' is one that slopes in a single direction; a '''saddle coping''' slopes to either side of a central high point.<ref>{{citation | last = Ching | first = Francis D. K. | date = 1995 | title = A Visual Dictionary of Architecture | publisher = Van Nostrand Reinhold Company | isbn = 0-442-02462-2 | location = New York, NY | page = 266 }}</ref>

Coping may be made of stone, [[brick]], clay or [[terracotta]], [[concrete]] or [[cast stone]], [[tile]], [[slate]], wood, [[Thatching|thatch]], or various metals, including [[aluminum]], [[copper]], [[stainless steel]], [[steel]], and [[zinc]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://roofonline.com/roof-components/wall-coping/types-of-wall-coping/|title=Types of Wall Coping|website=Roof Online|access-date=2019-03-15}}</ref> Stone coping used in contemporary landscaping is sometimes referred to as a "wall cap" in the US, with the stones referred to as capstones.<ref>{{cite web |title=5 Capstone Ideas for Great-Looking Retaining Walls |website=KG Landscape  |date=5 March 2024 |url=https://www.kglandscape.com/retaining-wall-caps |access-date=2 April 2025}}</ref> In the UK coping is distinct from capping in that the former has an overhang with a drip groove, whereas the latter is flush with the face of the wall below. In all cases it should have a weathered (slanted or curved) top surface to throw off the water.<ref name=EB1911/>

In [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] work, copings appeared plain and flat, and projected over the wall with a [[throating]] to form a drip. In later work a steep slope was given to the weathering (mainly on the outer side), and began at the top with an [[astragal]]; in the [[Decorated Period|Decorated Gothic]] style there were two or three sets off; and in the later [[Perpendicular Period|Perpendicular Gothic]] these assumed a wavy section, and the coping [[molding (decorative)|moulding]]s continued round the sides, as well as at top and bottom, [[Miter joint|mitring]] at the angles, as in many of the colleges at the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name=EB1911/>