fan vaulting

In architecture, a method of vaulting employed in the Perpendicular style, so called on account of its resemblance to a fan. The ribs radiate from one point with the same curvature, and are equidistant. The intermediate spaces between the ribs are generally filled in with smaller ribs and with decorative ornaments which sometimes give it the name of ‘fan-tracery’. The ceiling of Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey is one of the best examples. Others may be seen over the staircase of Christ Church, Oxford; in the cloisters at Gloucester; at King's College Chapel, Cambridge; St George's Chapel, Windsor; Sherborne Abbey; and the Divinity School, Oxford.

See also vault.