# Splayed opening

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Wall opening which widens on one side

See also: [Compound arch](/source/Compound_arch)

Splayed arch tops the splayed window opening

In [architecture](/source/Architecture), a **splayed opening** (also **splayed reveal**[1]) is a wall opening that is narrower on one side of the wall and wider on another. When used for a **splayed window**, it allows more light to enter the room. In fortifications, a splayed opening is used to broaden the [arc of fire](/source/Arc_of_fire) (cf. [embrasure](/source/Embrasure), [loophole](/source/Loophole_(firearm))).[2]

## Splayed arch

[Rabattement](/source/Rabattement_(drafting)) drawing of a symmetrical splayed arch wall opening by [Ginés Martínez de Aranda](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gin%C3%A9s_Mart%C3%ADnez_de_Aranda&action=edit&redlink=1) [[es](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin%C3%A9s_Mart%C3%ADnez_de_Aranda)] (c. 1600). B and D are the faces of the wall ([plan view](/source/Plan_view)), also used as [folding lines](/source/Folding_line). A and C are [elevations](/source/Elevation_view) of the arch faces.

Rabattement drawing of an ox horn arch. B and D are again the faces of the wall, A and C represent [intrados](/source/Intrados) on elevations. Curve E is the C as observed from the A side (visible due to the splay).  The space between A and E is the portion of intrados visible from the A side. The arch got its name from the shape of this space.

A **splayed arch** (also **sluing arch**[3]) is an [arch](/source/Arch) where the [springings](/source/Springing) are not parallel ("splayed"), causing an opening on the exterior side of an arch to be different (usually wider) than the interior one. The [intrados](/source/Intrados) of a splayed arch is not generally [cylindrical](/source/Cylindrical) as it is for typical ([round](/source/Round_arch)) arch, but has a [conical](/source/Conical) shape.[4][5]

José Calvo-López, a Spanish scholar of architecture, subdivides the splayed arches into symmetrical (where both springers form the same angles with the faces of the wall), and the **ox horn arches**, where one springer is orthogonal to the wall, and another is not, creating a "warped" intrados[4] (the use of the term "ox horn" should not be confused with [French](/source/French_language): *corne de vache*, "[cow's horn](/source/Cow's_horn_(architecture))" — a design technique that was used for [skew arch](/source/Skew_arch) profiles).

## Double-splayed window

Double-splayed window (cross section)

**Double-splayed windows**, widening towards both wall faces, with the narrowest part in the middle of a wall, are common in the [Anglo-Saxon architecture](/source/Anglo-Saxon_architecture), although the use of this trait for dating is questionable,[6] and English church buildings of the 12th century have such windows too.[7]

## Portals

See also: [Voussure](/source/Voussure) and [Compound arch](/source/Compound_arch)

Widely **splayed portals** (also **splayed jambs**, as opposed to un-splayed "square jambs") were used in the [Gothic architecture](/source/Gothic_architecture) to display sculpture on the western facades of churches.[8]

		- Prince's portal at the [Bamberg Cathedral](/source/Bamberg_Cathedral)

## See also

- [Hagioscope](/source/Hagioscope), a splayed opening for observation

- [Squinch](/source/Squinch), a conical-shaped vault spanning the inner corner between two walls.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECurlWilson2015630_1-0)** [Curl & Wilson 2015](#CITEREFCurlWilson2015), p. 630.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELepage2023541_2-0)** [Lepage 2023](#CITEREFLepage2023), p. 541.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["sluing arch"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sluing%20arch). *[Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary](/source/Merriam-Webster)*. Merriam-Webster. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [1032680871](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1032680871).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECalvo-López2020265_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECalvo-López2020265_4-1) [Calvo-López 2020](#CITEREFCalvo-López2020), p. 265.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEA_Dictionary_of_Architecture_and_Landscape_Architecture733_5-0)** [A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture](#CITEREFA_Dictionary_of_Architecture_and_Landscape_Architecture), p. 733.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBlair2005412_6-0)** [Blair 2005](#CITEREFBlair2005), p. 412.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGem1984243_7-0)** [Gem 1984](#CITEREFGem1984), p. 243.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMoore1890259_8-0)** [Moore 1890](#CITEREFMoore1890), p. 259.

## Sources

- Blair, John (2005). [*The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society*](https://books.google.com/books?id=eyQSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA412). EBSCO ebook academic collection. OUP Oxford. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-822695-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-822695-6). Retrieved 2024-12-16.

- Calvo-López, José (2020). "Arches". *Stereotomy*. Vol. 4. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 265–329. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/978-3-030-43218-8_6](https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-030-43218-8_6). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-030-43217-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-030-43217-1).

- Curl, J.S.; Wilson, S. (2015). ["reveal, revel"](https://books.google.com/books?id=4Lu6BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA630). *The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture*. Oxford Paperback Reference. Oxford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-967498-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-967498-5). Retrieved 2025-03-09.

- Gem, R. (1984). ["An Early Church of the Knights Templars at Shipley, Sussex"](https://books.google.com/books?id=am1P5hSs1RkC&pg=PA243). In Brown, R.A. (ed.). *Anglo-Norman Studies VI: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1983*. Anglo-Norman Studies VI: Proceedings Of The Battle Conference 1983. Boydell Press. pp. 238–246. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-85115-197-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-85115-197-7). Retrieved 2024-12-16.

- Lepage, J.D. (2023). ["Splayed opening"](https://books.google.com/books?id=twatEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT541). *Dictionary of Fortifications: An Illustrated Glossary of Castles, Forts, & Other Defensive Works from Antiquity to the Present Day*. Pen & Sword Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-3990-7225-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-3990-7225-0). Retrieved 2024-12-15.

- Moore, Charles Herbert (1890). [*Development & Character of Gothic Architecture*](https://books.google.com/books?id=52lmn-LoiEUC&pg=PA259). Macmillan. Retrieved 2025-03-09.

- ["splayed arch"](https://books.google.com/books?id=jIWr0IO9dYIC&pg=PA733). *A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture*. Oxford. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-860678-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-860678-9). Retrieved 2024-12-15.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Splayed opening](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splayed_opening) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splayed_opening?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.