June 2023 – GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN

WIGMORE . HEREFS . ST JAMES – Scratch Dials

Published on June 28, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST JAMES . WIGMORE . HEREFS

GRADE I † On a hilltop overlooking the village, next to the ruins of Wigmore Castle. Saxon origins with good remains of herringbone brickwork visible; early Norman nave c1050. Extended / altered / restored from C14 (tower) on. An impression of a fortified church, esp. tower at W end. 9m from Ludlow. 52.3166 / -2.8626 / SO412690

DIALS

DIAL 1

Dial 1 is on the SE face of the buttress in NE corner of the chancel (ie at the back of E end of the church), so at some stage re-sited as of little use for its intended purpose it its current position. There are 2 lines radiating from the style hole in the dial stone. In canonical terms, the deeper cut line equates roughly with Nones, and the upper line with Vespers, an unusually specific emphasis on the afternoon and evening, with no line for noon or earlier.

I wondered if, when relocated, the dial stone was rotated by 90º anticlockwise. If ‘corrected’, the short line would be the noon line, and the deeper-cut line would mark Tierce. But it is not very convincing and probably I am overthinking a very simple dial.

DIAL 1 ROTATED 90º

BSS DIAGRAM

DIAL 2

Dial 2 on the wall of S aisle is similarly simple with 2 lines only. One does not actually meet the gnomon. Of the sort that can be read more easily in B&W

DIAL 3

Dial 3 is low down on chancel, S doorway. There are 7 pocks in a semicircle, with the gnomon hole top centre. When I visited there were various obstacles in the supposed location. I found nothing to match the diagram below, and having moved a large planter to one side, this is the nearest pattern I could find.

SAXON HERRINGBONE PATTERN

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

All photos Keith Salvesen except Dial 2 (BSS records)

LLANGARRON . HEREFS . ST DEINST – Pillar Dial; Scratch Dial(?); Consecration Cross

Published on June 26, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST DEINST . LLANGARRON . HEREFS

GRADE 1 † C14 & C15; records of C11 origins; trace Norman interlace patterns. Restorations ±1900; later replacement of the top of the spire, repurposed as sundial pillar. Only 1 other church (Itton, nearby) with this Dedication. 7m N of Monmouth; 7m SW of Ross-on-Wye. 51.8871 / -2.6838 / SO530211

PILLAR (STEEPLE) DIAL

GV II † Tip of spire C14 adapted as horizontal sundial pillar late C19. In churchyard SW of the tower in an ideal place for admiration. Coursed & squared sandstone rubble, circular base. C14 masonry BLB

1. CHURCHYARD VIEW

2. HORIZONTAL DIAL

The dial is octagonal, with quarter-hours marked. IV as IIII. The inscription seems to be Llangarron Parish; and the maker’s name Counsell (though I can find no reference). The Roman numerals are conventional.

SCRATCH DIAL

BSS records a scratch dial with 3 lines on the buttress to W of S porch, in a poor state. Notes include Max. length lines, mm 80. Hard as I looked, I couldn’t find a dial in the given location, or at any height on the buttress. Or elsewhere. Possibly the stonework has deteriorated since the original record was made. The best I can offer is the BSS sketch; and the most promising dial-like area of the buttress.

CONSECRATION CROSS

A fine consecration cross, one of the largest I have seen. One puzzle is that the cross is too large for the stone, so that LHS is cut off at the edge. It seems unlikely that the designer mis-measured to that extent. Possibly the stone was moved and trimmed to fit its present position during restoration.

St Deinst is well described in an online page LLANGARRON HISTORY

GSS Category: Horizontal Dial; Pillar Dial; Scratch Dial; Consecration Cross

All photos: Keith Salvesen

CHARTREUSE DE MÉLAN . TANINGES . FRANCE – Vertical Dial on C13 Abbey

Published on June 23, 2023June 23, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

The Chartreuse was founded in 1285 as a Carthusian nunnery and continued its religious functions until the French Revolution. Thereafter it became a school and in due course an orphanage. A disastrous fire in 1967 destroyed almost all the buildings on the site, with loss of life. Only the church and its cloister now remain. The church is an exhibition space and the lawns around it feature examples of modern art, from interesting via enjoyable to a few that are a matter of personal taste.

The dial is included by MICHEL LALOS in his excellent French Cadrans Solaires site. Anyone who has in interest in sundials in France will benefit hugely by using this free resource. It is accessible, informative, and easy to use – not least because the dials are featured by Départment with a map for dial locations. The entry for Mélan is :

Cadran peu déclinant de l’après-midi, gravé et peint sur enduit, très dégradé, fines lignes, demies, plus de chiffres dans bandeaux, traces de blason et décor

Dial slightly declining in the afternoon, engraved, painted on rendering, very degraded, fine lines, half-hour lines, numbers within a frame, traces of coat of arms and decoration.

There are paint remnants at the top of the dial, where (presumably) it has been protected by the eaves. The gnomon hole at the top of the coat of arms is square. The dial is obviously old and I wondered if it might be dateable. Checking the apparent shape of the escutcheon, I discovered that it was first recorded as an armorial design in late C17 and (conveniently) turns out to be known as French-style. Overall, one might reasonably conclude that this dial is C18.

MEMORIAL STONE 1690

Chartreuse de Mélan . Taninges . France – Memorial Tablet 1690

GSS Category: Vertical Dial; France Sundial; Cadrans Solaires; Dials Abroad

All photos: Keith Salvesen; source used MICHEL LALOS

MORZINE . FRANCE . A Rustic & Rusty Alpine Dial 2021

Published on June 13, 2023June 22, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

A charming rustic dial incorporated into an iron balcony in Morzine – a surprise find. It seems accurately designed for its specific location and aspect. Included are its longitude and latitude. The hours marked are (most unusually) from 6 to 17: a dial based on the 24-hour clock. The design includes the sun shining cheerfully above the gnomon with a star on either side. A most enjoyable dial to come across by chance. The motto is one we should all abide by…

GSS Category: Rustic Alpine Sundial; Vertical Dial; New Dial; Sundial Motto

All photos: Keith Salvesen

CLEY-NEXT-THE-SEA . NORFOLK . ST MARGARET – A Horizontal Vertical dial

Published on June 8, 2023June 8, 2023 by Rolling Harbour1 Comment

St Margaret of Antioch . Cley-Next-The-Sea . Stained Glass Window (cr Keith Salvesen)

ST MARGARET . CLEY-NEXT-THE-SEA . NORFOLK

GRADE 1 † C14 and C15. An important and rather wonderful church, part-ruined. One of SJ‘s 1000 Best Churches: a sea church stranded inland. PEV describes a most striking and improbable-looking building, splendid from the S, but splendid in large parts rather than as a whole. 52.9464 / 1.0475 / TG048431

DIAL

I am grateful to my friends in Cley, Hanne Siebers and Klausbernd Vollmar, for discovering and photographing this most unusually positioned dial that has been incorporated into the floor of the church, serving a new purpose despite its damaged state.

The lines are more-or-less equally spaced, suggesting that the dial’s aspect was originally due S. The hours are separated by lozenges, and half-hours are marked. At the back / top end of the dial, there is considerable damage. It is just possible to make out a semicircle with a hole where the gnomon would have been. The incised numerals VII, VIII, III, and IV are less worn and indeed are surprisingly sharp, which might suggest that the dial was below a ledge of some sort that protected the upper part from weathering. One puzzle is the way in which VIII is split by a single crack, yet part of the numeral appears to be missing completely.

DATING THE DIAL

I initially thought that the dial was ±1800. The date of its removal and repositioning was unrecorded in the usual sources. As it turns out (with many thanks to Rev. Richard Lowery and Richard Jefferson) the change of location happened within the last 50 years or so. The dial had been high up on the S porch, but had become a danger. It was taken down and set in the floor of the chancel. The damage occurred at some stage during the relocation.

The earliest depiction I can find is a lovely drawing by John Sell Cotman dated 1818. It gives the dial due prominence and I think it can be confidently dated to ±1750. The work interestingly show the state of ruination as Cotman saw it.

St Margaret . Cley-next-the-Sea – John Sell Cotman – Art Institute of Chicago

Old photos and postcards can be a good way to approximate a date (or a span)

In 1959, C L S Linnell produced a Booklet for the Church. It was obviously successful – there were 4 reprints, the last in 1973. The cover photo of the Church shows the dial in its rightful place (though quite probably it was not updated for the reprints). Certainly by 2000, the dial had been repurposed.

An excellent account of the church and some of its medieval details (roof bosses &co) can be found with this link NORFOLK CHURCHES.

GSS Category: Sundial; Vertical Dial; Old Dial; Repositioned Dial

Photographs: header photo, Keith Salvesen; dial photos (with edits for clarity), Hanne Siebers and Klausbernd Vollmar with thanks as ever for their interest in this dial project and for their excellent contributions from other churches; other images os / cc / as shown

CHRIST’S COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE: Vertical Dial – Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

Published on June 5, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

The sundial is located on the wall of the Hall, and – for those not entitled to enter the College – easily visible from the entrance by the Porters’ Lodge. It is dated 1927, replacing a dial known (from an old print) to have been in this position in C17 that was lost during C19 alterations to the Hall. The dial was the gift of a College benefactor. His initials and the year of installation are on the dial supports. The calculations were carried out by a Member of College who was a sundial expert.

The unequal positions of the hour markers take account of the SW aspect of the wall, showing more afternoon than morning hours for accuracy as the sun declines.

GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Old Dial; New Dial; Sundial Motto

All photos: Keith Salvesen

Text based on the entry for Christ’s College in the booklet ‘Cambridge Sundials’ by Margaret Stanier and Alex Brookes. This, and its companion for Oxford, are included in the bibliography.