| Palazzo (Palazzo, Palazzos) | | A large, palatial urban building in Italy. | |
| Palisade (Palisade, Palisades, Palisaded) | | To palisade is to surround with a wall in order to fortify
A palisade is a fortification consisting of a strong fence made of stakes driven into the ground. Palisades were used to surround the bailey of a castle keep. | |
| Palladian (Palladian) | | A style of architecture developed by the Italian classical architect Andrea Palladio. It was introduced to Britain by Inigo Jones in the early 17th century and popular in the 18th century. It was used for grand country houses and is a classical style featuring columns and arches based on proportion, symmetry and simplicity. | |
| Parapet (Parapet, Parapets) | | A wall for protection at any sudden drop, e.g. on the sides of a bridge. Also at the top of a castle where it protects the parapet walk or wall-walk behind the battlements. They are also common in Georgian architecture where they hide the roof. | |
| Patronage (Patronage, Patron, Patrons) | | The act of giving financial backing to a person or place. | |
| Pediment (Pediment, Pediments) | | A large gable usually triangular in shape based on those found on classical buildings from Rome and Greece particularly temples. They are found on the top of buildings below the roof and over the entrance and are often decorated. Smaller versions are also used over doors, windows etc. | |
| Pele (Pele, Peel) | | A pele or peel tower is a small, strong, fortified tower house. It was only occupied in times of trouble. They were built mainly in the border country of the North from the mid 14th to the 17th centuries. | |
| Perpendicular (Perpendicular) | | An English version of the late Gothic architectural style used from the 1320s into the early 1500s. It can be recognised by its large windows divided up by straight vertical bars called mullions that go right up to the top of a four-centered (Tudor) arch. | |
| Pesthouse (Pesthouse, Pesthouses) | | A small isolation hospital or hostel for people with infectious diseases and leprosy. They were usually situated on the edge of a town or village. There was often little or no nursing care. | |
| Philanthropy (Philanthropy, Philanthropic, Philanthropist) | | The act of giving money or land to provide something for other people that will improve their life. | |
| Pilaster (Pilaster, Pilasters) | | A decorative, rectangular column attached to a wall. They only stick out a small amount and are often made to look like a classical column. They can be just decorative or act as supports. | |
| Pilgrim (Pilgrim, Pilgrims, Pilgrimage) | | A pilgrim is someone who journeys to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion. The journey is called a pilgrimage. | |
| Pillbox (Pillbox, Pillboxes) | | A small enclosed gun emplacement usually built of fortified concrete. Many were built during World War Two along rivers and on the coast, as part of the defences against invasion. | |
| Polychromatic (Polychromatic, Polychrome) | | Of many colours | |
| Portico (Portico, Porticos, Porticoed) | | A porch with its roof supported by a row of columns. | |
| Post mill (Post mill, Post mills) | | The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. The whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single upright post. The whole mill can be turned around on the post to bring the sails into the wind. The earliest post mills in England are thought to have been built in the 11th and 12th centuries. Early mills were turned by hand. | |
| Preceptory (Preceptory, Preceptories) | | A manor or estate owned and run by an order of knights, such as the Knights Templar. | |
| Prehistoric (Prehistoric, Prehistory) | | The time in history before a written record was kept. In Britain it is the time before the Roman invasion of 43AD. The only evidence of this period is from objects that have survived from then. | |
| Premonstratensian (Premonstratensian, Premonstratensians) | | A type of a religious community that was founded in 1121 and follows the Rule of St Augustine. The members are called canons and they work in places like hospitals as well as inside their own community. In England they are known as the 'white canons' as their habits are white. See Monastery. | |
| Presbyterian (Presbyterian, Presbyterians, Presbyterianism) | | A Christian, Protestant religion which developed from the teaching of John Calvin. Presbyterianism was founded by John Knox in Scotland in 1557. Their churches are run by a group of elders. They have strict rules of behaviour. See Nonconformist. | |
| Priory (Priory, priories, prior, prioress, prior's, prioress's) | | Priories were monasteries run by a prior or prioress. They were usually smaller than abbeys. | |
| Promenade (Promenade, Promenades, Esplanade, Esplanades) | | A long, open and level stretch of ground for walking along. Especially beside the seashore. Also known as an esplanade. | |
| Protestant (Protestant, Protestants, Protestantism) | | Christian, non Roman Catholic religions formed after the Reformation in the 16th century. The Church of England is a Protestant church. See Reformation, Nonconformist and Catholic. | |
| Pugin (Pugin) | | The English architect A.W. Pugin(1812-1852) played a leading role in the 19th century revival of Gothic architecture. He designed many churches and the Houses of Parliament. | |
| Puritan (Puritan, Puritans, Puritanism, Puritanical) | | In the 16th and 17th centuries they were extreme protestants. They wanted to reform the Church and society and make them much more pure. They believe that individuals can have direct communication with God without the need for bishops and an elaborate Church hierarchy. This was why many of them set sail on the 'Mayflower' to start a new life in America. The government controlled how they could worship in England, but in America they would be free to worship God as they pleased. | |