An oriel window is a form of

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

, or similar

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

s, an oriel window generally projects from an upper floor, but is also sometimes used on the ground floor.

Etymology

According to the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'', the term ''oriel'' is derived from Anglo-Norman ' and

Late Latin Late Latin is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE, and continuing into the 7th century in ...

', both meaning "gallery" or "porch", perhaps from

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

' ("curtain").

History

Oriel windows became popular in the 15th century. They allowed more sunlight into a room compared to conventional flat windows, and were therefore popular in northern countries such as England. They also could increase the usable space in a house without changing the footprint of the building. Oriel windows are seen in Arab architecture in the form of

mashrabiya A ''mashrabiya'' or ''mashrabiyya'' () is an architectural element which is characteristic of traditional Islamic architecture, architecture in the Islamic world and beyond. It is a type of projecting oriel window enclosed with carved wood latti ...

and in Turkish are known as ''şahnişin'' or ''cumba''. In

Islamic culture Islamic cultures or Muslim cultures refers to the historic cultural practices that developed among the various peoples living in the Muslim world. These practices, while not always religious in nature, are generally influenced by aspects of Islam ...

, these windows and balconies project from the street-front of a house, providing an area in which women could peer out and see the activities below whilst remaining out of line-of-sight.

Notable examples

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

, took its name from a balcony or oriel window forming a feature of a building which occupied the site the college now stands on. *

Oriel Chambers Oriel may refer to: Places Canada * Oriel, a community in the municipality of Norwich, Ontario, Canada Ireland * Oriel Park, Dundalk, the home ground of Dundalk FC * Oriel House, Ballincollig, County Cork * Kingdom of Oriel (''Airgíalla'' in Ir ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

was a very controversial building when it was built, featuring an entire façade of glass oriel windows.

Gallery

File:2014 Kłodzko, pl. Chrobrego 13 03.JPG, Oriel windows with elaborate detailing,

Kłodzko Kłodzko (; ; ; ) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse (Nysa Kłodzka) river. Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko County (and of the ru ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

File:Barnard Castle's round tower, 2007.jpg, A 15th-century oriel window at

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum has an 18th-century Silver Swan automaton exhibit ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England. File:Myrtle Street Flats (San Francisco).JPG, Oriel windows in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, USA File:Prior Bolton Oriel Window.jpg, 16th-century oriel window in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great File:Bradford City Hall by J Illingworth.jpg, 19th-century

neo-gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

oriel window on Bradford City Hall File:Bruges - Bay window.JPG, Masonry oriel window above a canal supported by corbelling,

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

, Belgium File:Perssonska gården (Gäddan 1) 2012-09-27 14-12-05.jpg, Ground-floor oriel window, Perssonska gården,

Hedemora Hedemora is a Urban areas in Sweden, town in Dalarna County and the seat of Hedemora Municipality, Sweden, with 7,273 inhabitants in 2010. Despite its small population, Hedemora is for historical reasons normally still referred to as a Stad (Swede ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

File:Oriel chambers.jpg,

, by Peter Ellis, 1864 File:Maison bleue.jpg, Massive half timbered oriel window on a pre-1581 house, Bouxwiller, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France File:Świdwin wlz.JPG, Large masonry oriel window of District Office in

Świdwin Świdwin (; ) is a town in West Pomeranian Voivodeship of northwestern Poland. It is the capital of Świdwin County, and the administrative seat - though not part - of the Gmina Świdwin. Świdwin is situated in the historic Pomerania region on t ...

File:Gave Aspe Oloron-Sainte-Marie.jpg, Oriel windows with brackets in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France File:Exeter College Bay Window in Turl Street.jpg, An oriel window in

Turl Street Turl Street is a historic street in central Oxford, England. Location The street is located in the city centre, linking Broad Street at the north and High Street at the south. It intersects with Brasenose Lane to the east, and Market St ...

belonging to

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

References

External links