Category: Dorset Scratch Dial

OKEFORD FITZPAINE . DORSET . ST ANDREW – Scratch Dial (re-sited)

Published on by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST ANDREW . OKEFORD FITZPAINE . DORSET

LISTING: II* ❖ Records from 1302; mainly C15. ‘Extensive restoration’ 1865 (J Hicks). A fine church set in a large, sloping churchyard. 4m S of Sturminster Newton. 50.8965 /  –2.2753 / ST807108

DIAL

No need to pass through the Lych-gate to find it. 20 yards to the left on the outside of the wall, you will find the dial reset ‘with other architectural fragments, probably placed there during restoration of 1865‘ GLP.

The dial is a spidery creation (‘a six-pointed star formed of three intersecting lines’ GLP). It’s hard to imagine how, in its original position, it could have been very useful. Perhaps the rustic work of a sacristan in idle moments? Possibly it is not a dial at all.

UPPER STONE

LOWER STONE

The stone below (a different type?) has a half-circle, and a promising gnomon hole above left. Neither has other dial features.

SHOE OUTLINES

Without being unduly dismissive of the dial, the most interesting features of these stone fragments are the outlines of 2 small shoes – one incomplete, the other cut off by the edge of the stone. The iconography of medieval protection marks is a whole separate subject of study, outside my remit. In brief some recurring features found on or in buildings – both religious and secular – are defined as protection marks. Specific examples include outlines of hands (eg North Cadbury), feet, and shoes. Other counter-witchcraft methods involved items being walled up in dwellings. These include childrens’ shoes and toys; glass phials; bones; animal skulls; and dead cats. To explore further, the excellent book by Brian Hoggard ‘Magical House Protection’ should be your guide.

Of St Andrew’s 6 bells, one has an excellent inscription worth mentioning: I OFTEN HAVE BEEN BEATE AND BANGED MY FRIENDS REJOICE TO SEE ME HANGED AND WHEN MY FRIENDS DO CHANCE TO DIE THEN I FOR THEM WILL LOUDLY CRIE

Another fragment incorporated into the wall

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Re-sited Dial; Shoe protection mark

All photos: Keith Salvesen

HAMPRESTON . DORSET . ALL SAINTS – Scratch Dial

Published on by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ALL SAINTS . HAMPRESTON . DORSET

GRADE II* ❖ Norman origins on Saxon site; 1261 first Rector; C14 chancel and Tower. Victorian additions and restoration. Royal Coat of Arms of George II 1754. DHCT rates as fabulously interesting. Secluded within the New Forest. 50.7888 / -1.9231 /  SZ055988

DIALS

All Saints has two adjacent dials low down on the same stone of a small buttress at the E end. One is elaborate; the other is rustic.

DIAL 1

There are 17 lines and 7 pocks within an incomplete circle. Noon seems to be indicated by 3 pocks under a shorter line. The longer line no doubt indicates the main time of observance as None.

DIAL 2

This simple dial has 2 sets of 3 pocks. The lower set would work for mid-morning to early afternoon, presumably to emphasise the main daily Mass. The upper set can only be ‘decorative’, perhaps the work of a bored sacristan practising symmetry.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Medieval Sundial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

CANFORD MAGNA . DORSET . Scratch Dial

Published on by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

CANFORD MAGNA CHURCH . DORSET

GRADE I ❖ Saxon origins as cruciform chapel. Tower added c1180. Expansion C13, C14; C15 additions; C19 alterations. No dedication. A very fine and interesting church, the late Saxon work being of major importance HE. Without any doubt one of the most interesting churches in Dorset PEV. 50.7889 /  -1.956 / SZ031988

See Canford’s Vertical Dial HERE

DIAL

The dial is within the porch, RHS of the door and partially obscured by a noticeboard. The original BSS record (2006) notes a filled gnomon hole with 8 radials, encircled [see diagram]. Four irregular moss-filled lines are clearly visible; a couple more are just detectable. The noticeboard stymies the sort of hopeful slantwise photo behind an obstruction that can occasionally be revealing.

BSS Diagram

Although this is a Parish Church, it lies within the grounds of Canford School. There are some unsurprising visiting restrictions. If you have an interest in early churches, you will want to spend some time investigating the interior and working out the gradual development. See PEV DORSET p171 and ff.

There is quite a lot of graffiti, much of it old but with later pupil initials etc. As a bonus, there is a good vertical dial on the apex at the E end, which will be written up separately.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Scratch Dial within porch; Vertical Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

KINSON . DORSET . ST ANDREW – Scratch Dial

Published on by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST ANDREW . KINSON . DORSET

GRADE II* ❖ C13, little altered until rebuilt 1870s (chancel) & 1890s (nave & aisles). A fine, squat Norman tower. A rare interior dial, relocated to the chancel arch. Church now within the outer fringes of N Bournemouth yet happily just off the many beaten tracks that now surround it. 50.7719 / -1.905 / SZ067969

DIAL

The dial, repositioned and inverted, is located on the S chancel arch. There are 6 encircled lines, one going beyond the ring. GLP notes that the circumference line is poorly drawn and does not form a circle; and he suggests that the re-siting within the church would probably have been during the 1875 rebuild. I wondered if URQ also shows damage from fitting the dial in its new position.

The gnomon hole is both large and deep, though almost certainly not so originally.

INTERIOR DIALS

Scratch dials within a church are relatively rare. Included in these pages are Thornford Dorset; Stoke St Gregory Somerset; Firle Sussex; and W Clandon Surrey (3).

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Internal Scratch Dial; Internal Church Sundial

All photos Keith Salvesen; drawing from HE archive

MAIDEN BRADLEY (2) . WILTS . ALL SAINTS – Unusual Diptych Dial

Published on by Rolling Harbour3 Comments

ALL SAINTS . MAIDEN BRADLEY (∏ Retired QA)

ALL SAINTS . MAIDEN BRADLEY . WILTS

GRADE I ♱ Saxon foundation. C12 (first record 1102) early C14, C15, 1845 restoration. C12 Purbeck marble font bowl. Jacobean box pews. Spiritual home of the Dukes of Somerset, duly commemorated. Original 14th century oak door, fittings. Scratch Dial featured HERE. 7m SW of Warminster. Longleat & Stourhead nearby. 51.1468 / -2.2821 / ST803386

✤

DIAL

All Saints has an unusual and intriguing double-faced sundial above the porch, thought to be C18. At first sight, looking towards the porch, it could be a cube dial. The 2 sides are at right angles facing SE and SW. Between them, they cover the ‘6-to-6’ time span. There are faint markings on the dial faces – roman numerals, lines (see below).

BSS records two declining dials of similar design believed to be made from one sheet of metal folded at the centre. Between them they show 6am to 6pm in half hours.

✤

SOUTH ASPECT

It is worth noting that the two gnomons are matched in both style, and position on each face. This is only (I think) possible with equal SE / SW angles. BSS notes SE dial may be ‘slow‘.

✤

SOUTH EAST ASPECT

✤

SOUTH WEST ASPECT

✤

DIAL MARKINGS

A poor photo enlarged, showing the visible markings – lines and the reciprocal roman numerals at the edge of each face.

✤

SCRATCH DIAL HERE

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos Keith Salvesen except header, Retired QA (OS CC)

SYMONDSBURY . DORSET . ST JOHN – Scratch Dial

Published on by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST JOHN . SYMONDSBURY . DORSET

GRADE I ❖ C14, rebuilt from earlier church (BHO); C15 S porch, C17 chancel rebuilt. Wagon-type nave roof. Gargoyles. An attractive and well-kept church. Also recommended: visit the Symondsbury Estate complex. 2m W of Bridport. 50.7396 / -2.7879 /  SY445936


DIAL

The dial is on E. jamb of the porch entrance. The gnomon hole is in the mortar line, from which 10 lines radiate in a semi-circle. The noon line is terminates in a pock. RHS, is considerably damaged / erosion. Noted by GLP as a very accurate dial.

GSS Category: Scratch Dail; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

NETHERBURY . DORSET . ST MARY – Scratch Dial

Published on by Rolling Harbour3 Comments

ST MARY . NETHERBURY . DORSET

GRADE I ☩ C14 nave and aisles; C14/15 chancel; C15 west tower. S porch rebuilt in 1848 (see below). A handsome church with pleasing proportions. 6m N of Bridport, 9m S of Crewkerne. 50.7923 / -2.7528 / SY470994

✣

DIAL

The dial dates to C15 and is on W jamb of SW window of S aisle. Allowing for damage, it is a (near) semi-circle with 11 lines of varying length. 8 of them have holes, some terminal and some on the longer lines. GLP notes that the dial is extremely accurately drawn. (GLP) The dial is now shaded by the C19 porch that replaced a smaller one.

✣

✣

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen; analysis GLP

CHICKERELL . DORSET . ST MARY – Scratch Dial

Published on by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

GRADE II* ☩ C13 Chancel, Nave; other remnants eg blocked C13 doorway. Later additions and restorations. Fine hexagonal pulpit, one panel carved 1630 RW.IM. With its bellcote, a charming small church. On W edge of Weymouth. 50.6248 /  -2.5048 / SY643806

DIAL

The dial is high up (c 3m) on the chancel quoin stone SE corner. GLP dates to C13. Semi-circular (a hint of a complete circle?), with 13 lines. Some terminal pocks. One line – corresponding with Terce – is deeper incised, with a hole outside the circumference.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

OSMINGTON . DORSET . ST OSMUND – Scratch Dial

Published on by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST OSMUND . OSMINGTON . DORSET

GRADE II* ☩ C15 west tower; otherwise mainly rebuilt 1846 retaining very little of the original church (?Ferry). Set in a pretty village close to the coast that has the feel of an earlier age (in a good way). 5m E of Weymouth. 50°38’45″N /  2°23’29″W / SY724829

DIAL

This unusual dial is cut on the SW buttress of the tower. I say cut, but in fact it is drilled in a complete circle of small holes surrounding a large gnomon hole centred on the dial stone. There are no lines at all (as with eg TRENT AFPUDDLE TINTINHULL).

St Osmond . Osmington – Dial Diagram BSS

In all there are 36 holes that form an irregular circle flattened at the top. The ring of pocks is (unsurprisingly) not entirely accurate, as the diagram above (GLP; BSS) shows.

As for a noon line, I wonder if the short downward line of (apparent) small pocks, below and to the left of damaged area, mark noon. It’s not vertical, but the design of the dial and its position on the SW face of the buttress perhaps called for a slightly offset noon marker.

The gnomon hole has clearly been enlarged at some time, and sufficiently so to provide a modern home for small snails.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Scratch Dial (pocks only)

All photos: Keith Salvesen

LEIGH . DORSET . ST ANDREW (2) – Unrecorded Scratch Dial

Published on by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

DEDICATION † ST ANDREW – C15, mid-C19 restoration; C13 font

LISTING † GRADE II*

LOCATION † 5 miles SW of Sherborne, a sprawling village set deep in farming country. Some fine old buildings dating from C16, now mixed in with modern housing. A fine village cross with C15 shaft. A friendly very rural place. No street lights. 50.8762 / -2.5445 / ST617086

In the early days of this site when I was researching scratch dials close to us in Dorset, I discovered that our own village church had one that was already recorded. It didn’t look very ‘dial-ish’ so I was pleased to find an authoritative drawing of it by GLP. My original post is HERE and see below for an image.

ST ANDREW . DIAL 2

The dial is semicircular, RHS of the porch, and just below Dial 1. The gnomon hole is in the mortar line, and plugged. The horizontal mortar line acts as a ‘6-to-6’ line, split by the vertical noon line. This is deeper incised than the three other visible lines.

DIAL 1

Original post HERE

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen