History

Historic Medieval Daisy Wheel - or Historic Building Geoemetry.

The daisy wheel sometimes called a hexafoil is a design with six-fold dihedral symmetry composed from six petals arranged radially around a central point. We were lucky enough to have Laurie Smith (https://historicbuildinggeometry.uk/downloads/) visit Mill End at the invitation of Rupert Newman, who constructed our green oak and glass timber frame garden room, who discovered our very own daisy wheel cared into the 600 year old oak beams of our loft.

Laurie Smith is a geometer and early-building design researcher, specialising in historic geometrical design systems.

Jane Griswold Architect also explains daisy wheels thus - The master carpenter chose his circle diameter - often a hand's breath, about 8", or  from thumb to first finger, about 6".
He drew his circle on a board and stepped the radius around the circle 6 times, swinging an arc each time. The pattern is a daisy wheel.
Always, in every circle, the tips of the petals mark the diameter of that circle.  The other carpenters could measure the diameter with a compass whenever they needed.