Flèche (architecture)



A flèche is the name given to spires in Gothic architecture. In French, the word is applied to any spire, but in English it has the technical meaning of a spirelet or spike on the rooftop of a building. In particular, the spirelets often built atop the crossings of major churches in mediaeval French Gothic architecture are called flèches.

On the ridge of the roof on top of the crossing (the intersection of the nave and the transepts) of a church, flèches were typically light, delicate, timber-framed constructions with a metallic sheath of lead or copper. They are often richly decorated with architectural and sculptural embellishments: tracery, crockets, and miniature buttresses serve to adorn the flèche.

Flèches are often very tall: the Gothic Revival spire of Notre-Dame de Paris (1858–2019) by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was about 100 ft before its destruction in the Notre-Dame de Paris fire, while the 16th century flèche of Amiens Cathedral is 148 ft high.

The highest flèche in the world was built at the end of the 19th century for Rouen Cathedral, 157 m high in total.

A short spire or flèche surrounded by a parapet is common on churches in Hertfordshire; as a result, this type of flèche is called a Hertfordshire spike.