Category: Garden Sundial

ROSEMOOR GARDENS . TORRINGTON . DEVON – Pillar Dial 2004

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The Sundial, Rosemoor Gardens, Devon.

ROSEMOOR GARDENS

Renowned RHS gardens near Torrington, Devon. It’s a wonderful place. You can find out all about it HERE. For present purposes, the focus is on the very fine sundial installed in the gardens in 2004. This is a project of the BRITISH SUNDIAL SOCIETY and the description below is from the BSS record:

This is an unusual dial in the form of a triangular section pillar made of Delabole slate and 1820mm high. It was designed by Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd and made by Ben Jones. It carries a motto on the 610mm diameter slate base ‘But only in time can the moment in the rose-garden be remembered’ (T.S.Eliot, modified from a passage in Burnt Norton, the first of the Four Quartets).

On two of the faces are pairs of declining dials one above the other. The upper ones are drawn for December to June and the lower ones for June to December. The hour lines are corrected for the Equation of Time.There are three declination lines on each dial. Arabic numerals are used and the dials show BST. The easterly dial shows 5:30am to 1:30pm in half and quarter hours while the westerly dial shows 12:30pm to 9:30pm similarly divided. The north dial has dedications to V M Dickinson, M J C Wright, H Addy and R Addy.

DIAL IMAGES 1

All Photos: John Renner

DIAL IMAGES 2

Images taken from the designer’s magisterial book Sundials: History, Art, People, Science. The design below seems an excellent example of art meeting science.

GSS Category: Pillar Dial; Modern Sundial; Pillar Sundial

Credits: Photos by John Renner; material from the book by Mark Lennox-Boyd; British Sundial Society

BROUGHTON GRANGE GARDENS . OXON – Pedestal Dial

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Broughton Grange dates from early C17. Gradual development resulted in a fine house with an extensive estate owned by the Morrell family and associated with the Bloomsbury Group via Lady Ottoline. The whole estate was bought in the 1990s. New gardens have been beautifully landscaped and an arboretum created. The property is renowned as one of the finest contemporary private gardens, to which there is public access. You can find out more here: BROUGHTON GRANGE 3m SW of Banbury 52.0415 / 1.3776 / SP4338

The dial stands at the centre of the Parterre and Rose Garden, overlooking the smart box hedges. It is dated MDCCLI (1751). I’ve spent some time trying to figure out the inscription, some of which cannot be read even with a magnifying glass. I have settled (provisionally) on Tempora Servio, ‘I Serve the Times’ or a similar conjunction of tempus and servere. This formulation does not specifically appear in eg the expanded edition of Gatty; however tempora is in common usage, often with its companion, mores. Any other suggestions welcome, a definitive ruling would be ideal.

GSS Category: Horizontal Dial; Pedestal Dial; Garden Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

WOLFETON HOUSE . DORCHESTER . DORSET – Multiple Sundial

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WOLFETON HOUSE . DORCHESTER

Wolfeton House (sometimes Wolveton) is a fine Grade 1 Elizabethan manor house with medieval origins. It stands amidst the the water meadows of the River Frome near Charminster, just N of Dorchester. Admired by Hardy. For more about the house, its history, and how to stay in the Gatehouse (dated 1534) see:

DORSETLIFE ✣ HISTORIC HOUSES ✣ LANDMARK TRUST

SUNDIAL

Some time ago we went to Wolfeton in connection with the the Pevsner Buildings of England series. I was able to photograph this most interesting sundial, though with a rather rustic camera and in low light. The dial is not in the optimum place for its primary purpose, but with its pleasing symmetrical design it suits where it stands.

INSCRIPTION

The inscription is an intriguing mystery. At the time I was less engaged with dials, or I might have made more effort to record the details and to take a decent photo. As it is, I cannot make much sense of it. The initial letter U… could perhaps be the start of Umbra? But that assumes the words are in Latin. I have checked the main motto resources including Gatty (original, and revised & expanded); and various less comprehensive sources. I will add the translation if I can make any more sense of the text. Meanwhile, any ideas would be welcome. Actual knowledge, the more so.

ADDENDUM *

UMBRA VIDET UMBRAM
VIVE HODIE.
A shadow marks the shadow.
Live to day.

As it turns out, Gatty did record this dial, attributing it to a neighbouring village Bradford Peverell rather than Charminster. She noted the inscription is somewhat defaced. The dial was possibly erected by George Purling about 1815-20, when the garden was laid out). The same motto is on the tower of Broughton-Gifford Church, near Melksham,

HOW THE DIAL WORKS

This is a polar dial, with the end edges of the cross pieces acting as gnomons (cf the polar dial at Tintinhull).  The dial should be oriented so these point north, ie with the inscription on the south face. However, it is clearly not orientated like that, so it now acts as an interesting garden ornament. John Foad (BSS) has kindly marked up a photo to show how the dial would work if correctly positioned.

DATE

The inscription might give a clue to the dial’s date. My amateur guess is that it is somewhere between mid-C18 and early C19.

Wolfeton House . Dorchester . Dorset – Multiple Garden Dial

GSS Category: Multiple Dial; Old Dial; Garden Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen; *John Foad BSS for additional material / expertise (see Addendum)

COMPTON . SURREY . THE WATTS GALLERY – Horizontal Dial by Mary Watts

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The WATTS GALLERY in Compton, Surrey showcases the work of artist G. F. WATTS and his wife MARY WATTS, exemplar of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The enterprise has expanded hugely since I last visited and took photos of the sundials there. The Gallery link above will give all the current information you could wish for.

You can find out about the remarkable Scaphe Dial at the gallery HERE

GSS Category: Horizontal Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

GARDEN SUNDIAL . MINTERNE HOUSE . DORSET

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MINTERNE HOUSE . DORSET

A sundial on the terrace of this fine house, with its C17 origins and unbroken line of Digbys. The renowned gardens are especially worth visiting in Spring. It features a collapsible gnomon, an unusual feature not conducive to enhancing its primary purpose.

Minterne House, Dorset – Sundial on the terrace