As usual, I came across something while looking for something else. This time it’s gargoyles. Thanks to this link from here.
It turns out, that the presence of gargoyles on buildings was not merely to ward off evil or to frighten demons and other evil creatures. Apart from the architectural purpose, gargoyles also functioned to protect buildings from erosion by directing water from rooftop gutters to the ground below.
According to the Encyclopedia Americana a gargoyle is "a waterspout, projecting from a roof gutter or upper part of a building to throw water clear of walls or foundations." So they protect the mortar and the stones of the building from erosion.This little piece of information may be of little or no use to anyone, but it satisfied my curiosity as in “What’s that horrible thing doing up there?”
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