In architecture, a triangular arch (sometimes angular arch[1]) typically defines an arch where the intrados (inner surface of an arch) consists of two straight segments formed by two stone slabs leaning against each other.[2][3] In this roof-like[4] arrangement, mitre joint is usually used at the crown, thus the arch was in the past also called a mitre arch.[5] Brick builders would call triangular any arch with straight inclined sides.[6] Mayan corbel arches are also sometimes called triangular due to their shape.[7]
Since the sides of a triangular arch are experiencing bending stress, it is a false arch[3] in a structural sense (historically preceding the invention of true arches[8] and going back to Neolithic times[9]). The design was used in Anglo-Saxon England until the late 11th century (St Mary Goslany) over small openings.[2][1]
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A triangular arch built using masonry (White Castle, Monmouthshire) -
Mayan corbelled arch -
- ^ a b Audsley & Audsley 1881, p. 37.
- ^ a b Woodman & Bloom 2003, Triangular.
- ^ a b "triangular arch". The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. 2021. ISBN 9780191918742.
- ^ Passmore, A.C. (1904). "Mitre arch". Handbook of Technical Terms Used in Architecture and Building and Their Allied Trades and Subjects. Scott, Greenwood, and Company. p. 228. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ "mitre arch". Oxford English Dictionary. 2023-07-01. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ Brick Industry Association] (January 1995). Brick Masonry Arches: Introduction (PDF). Technical Notes on Brick Construction. Brick Industry Association. p. 2.
- ^ Sturgis & Davis 2013, p. 121, Triangular Arch.
- ^ Nikolich 2020, p. 1862.
- ^ Harry S. Ashmore, ed. (1961). "Arch and Vault". The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (14 ed.). Chicago: Sears. p. 262. OCLC 855170286.