What are those stone figures and carvings staring down from the Peace Tower of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill? Some are replicas of animals, some resemble people, while others portray ancient lurid creatures. Whatever they are, all of them are original carvings which were incorporated into the neo-Gothic architectural style of the buildings on Parliament Hill.

The Parliament buildings are the only government buildings in the world where carving is still taking place on a full-time basis. There are still many uncarved blocks of stone in the interior of the Centre Block that are waiting to be transformed into notable works of art.

Although the carvings are generally referred to as gargoyles, there is a descriptive difference between "gargoyles" and "grotesques"; "friezes" and "bosses".

Gargoyles were created with a two-fold practical purpose. One, to ward off evil and second, to eject excess water from the exterior of buildings. A gargoyle, although sometimes mistaken for a grotesque, is a spout or eavestrough carved in the form of a human or animal figure projecting from a roof gutter to catch rainwater and throw it clear of a building.

A grotesque is a style of decorative art characterized by fanciful human or animal figures that may distort the natural into absurdity, ugliness or caricature. At the turn of the century, grotesques were carved as designs of figures for decoration or adornment on buildings. At the same time, they were made to symbolize a desire to fight the power of evil.

Some grotesques or reliefs were carved onto a frieze, which is a horizontal band of decoration around the upper section of a wall, often ornamented with sculpture.

The term boss is used to describe an ornamental projecting block which can be found at the end of a moulding or an arch.