List of octagonal buildings and structures

Plan of the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem.

The Tower of the winds in Athens.

Octagon buildings and structures are characterized by an octagonal plan form, whether a perfect geometric octagon or a regular eight-sided polygon with approximately equal sides.

The oldest known octagon-shaped building is the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece, which was constructed circa 300 B.C. Octagon houses were popularized in the United States in the mid-19th century and there are too many to list here, see instead List of octagon houses. There are also octagonal houses built in other times and cultures.

Below is a list of octagonal buildings and structures worldwide, excluding houses and windmills.

Australia

• The office pods of Callam Offices in Canberra
• Chinaman's Hat an octagonal gazebo-like structure in the South Channel of Port Phillip Bay, Victoria.
• The Octagon Theatre at the University of Western Australia.
• The old site of Hotel Saville in South Yarra, Melbourne, now unofficially referred to as The Blocktagon, which was renovated into a residential dwelling made up of six octagonal apartments during the eleventh season of reality show The Block.

Canada

Houses

At least 19 historic octagon houses are known to exist in Canada distributed across 4 eastern provinces.^[1] In Canada, the octagon house craze also engendered an octagonal deadhouse phenomenon. This included octagonal deadhouses, pre-burial edifices, built in the mid to late 1800s along Yonge Street in south-central Ontario, from just north of Toronto to Aurora. At least 3 octagon houses are classified as heritage sites, one in Richmond Hill and the other in King. Extant octagon houses in Canada include the following:

• In New Brunswick^[2]
  • Pocologan, New Brunswick, octagon house^[2][3]
  • Sackville, New Brunswick, Captain George Anderson House, built in 1855, is a locally designated heritage site
• In Nova Scotia^[2]
  • Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia: Fraser Octagon House, built in 1857, provincially designated heritage site
• In Ontario^[2]

Ameliasburg, Prince Edward County, Ontario, octagon house Bowmanville, Ontario, octagon house Bracebridge, Ontario, Woodchester Villa, a provincially designated heritage site Brantford, Ontario, octagon house Burlington, Ontario, octagon house south of sandpoint beach, on Florence Avenue Calabogie, Ontario, octagon house, 15 Octagon Lane Clark's Corners, Oxford County, Ontario, octagon house

Kingsville, octagon house Maple, Ontario, octagon house, Major MacKenzie Drive Milton, Ontario, octagon house, 6103 Guelph Line Morton, Ontario, northeast of Kingston, former octagon schoolhouse, also used as a residence Mount Pleasant, Ontario, 646 Mount Pleasant Road, octagon house now used as a spa Otterville, Ontario, Woodlawn Octagon House, 1861, moved from Millvale Peel County, Ontario, octagon house, 8280 Heritage Road, near Huttonville Port Hope, Ontario, 1856 octagon house Picton, Ontario, Prince Edward County, ca. 1860 octagon house Toronto, Ontario, Leaside, 1841 octagon house Westport, Ontario, octagon house, on the Upper Rideau Lake

• In Quebec^[2]
  • Guérin, Quebec octagon house

Other buildings and structures

• Bastion Nanaimo, British Columbia
• Chapel at Dundurn, Hamilton, Ontario
• Miscou Island Lighthouse – strategic Baie des Chaleurs octagonal colonial lighthouse
• Huron County Gaol – distinctive octagonal jail design, 1839–41
• Pachena Point Light on Vancouver Island, British Columbia
• Speedside United Church, in Centre Wellington, Ontario

China

• Liaodi Pagoda, China
• Lingxiao Pagoda, China
• Also many other pagodas

Egypt

• Lighthouse of Alexandria
• Pharos of Abusir

Ethiopia

• St. George's Cathedral, Addis Ababa

Germany

Ceiling of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen.

• Palatine Chapel in Aachen

Greece

• Tower of the Winds, Athens, Greece

Hungary

• Rumbach Street synagogue, Budapest

Iran

• Ferdows Religious School, Toon
• Jabalieh

Israel

• Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem. 687-691 CE

Italy

• The Baptistery (5th century), Albenga
• Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence
• The Battistero or Baptistery of Parma
• Basilica of San Vitale, Rome
• Castel del Monte (Apulia), Andria (BT)
• Church of St. Giacomo, Vicovaro

New Zealand

• The Octagon, the former Trinity Congregational Church in Christchurch, New Zealand

Norway

Dverberg Church with memorial for fishermen who lost their lives at sea.

• Ankenes Church
• Bardu Church
• Buvik Church
• Dolstad Church, mixed octagonal-cruciform
• Klæbu Church
• Røssvoll Church
• Støren Church
• Trinity Church (Oslo), octagonal-cruciform combined
• Vinje Church (Hemne)

Spain

View of the Octagonal Tower at the Alcazar in Jerez.

• Alcazar of Jerez de la Frontera has an Octagonal Tower, in Almohad style

Sweden

• Hedvig Eleonora Church, Stockholm

United Kingdom

Wells Cathedral plan, showing the octagonal chapter house (top).

• Abbot's Kitchen, Glastonbury
• Abbot's Kitchen, Oxford
• Avenue Methodist Church in Sale, Greater Manchester
• Dutch Cottage, Rayleigh, Essex
• 18th century replicas of the Athenian Tower of the Winds in the ornamental gardens of the following stately homes:
  • Mount Stewart
  • Shugborough Hall
  • West Wycombe Park
• Naze tower, Walton on the Naze
• Octagonal chapter houses at the following cathedrals:^[4]
  • Liverpool Cathedral
  • Salisbury Cathedral
  • Truro Cathedral
  • Wells Cathedral
  • York Minster
• Octagon Centre, Sheffield
• Octagonal lantern tower, Ely Cathedral, Ely
• Octagon Chapel, Norwich
• Dreghorn & Springside Parish Church
• St James Church, Teignmouth
• Pagoda at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London
• Storm Tower at Compass Point, Bude, Cornwall
• St. John’s Methodist Church, Arbroath
• United Reformed Church in Cheadle Hulme
• The main tower of Hadlow Castle, Kent
• The Butter Market, Barnard Castle, County Durham
• Hertford College's Middle Common Room, Oxford

United States

See also

• Octagon house
• List of octagon houses

References

1. Kline, Robert V. "Inventory of Older Octagon, Hexagon, and Round Houses". rvkline. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
2. Kline, Robert V. "Inventory of Older Octagon, Hexagon, and Round Houses: Canada". rvkline. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
3. See photo of Sackville one here
4. Ousby, Ian, Blue Guide: England, 11th ed. 1995, various pages, London: A & C Black ISBN 0-7136-3874-5; New York: WW Norton ISBN 0-393-31340-9