Scratch Dial Books & Articles – GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN

EVERCREECH . SOMERSET – St Peter

Published on November 21, 2025November 22, 2025 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST PETER . EVERCREECH

GRADE 1 ❖ C14, C15, restored 1825 by Jesse Gane of Evercreech; further in 1843; late C19 work. Very tall 3-stage ‘Mendip-type’ tower, visible from some distance. Worthwhile interior. Town prosperity partly from silk and enhanced by railway in 1862 – axed by Beeching in 1966 despite intervention by John Betjeman. 51.1463 / -2.5026 / ST649386

UPDATE: Yesterday I wrote dismissively of the St Peter’s dial, based on camera photos. Now that I have seen my iPhone photos (almost always the best option for close-up shots but I had nearly run out of battery) I have changed my tune a bit…

DIAL

Emphatically not vaux le voyage, and included here mainly because in 1913 DEH counted it as a dial [85] when compiling his exhaustive record of Somerset scratch dials. On SE buttress of the tower he found a ‘quite clear’ circle with a shallow style hole, but without any lines. He put the design in his Doubtful category.

100 + years since the record was made, the circle has eroded away and the hole is not shallow. I had decided to demote this to the not-a-dial category. However, looked at closely and at an angle, it appears that what was once DEH’s ‘shallow hole’ has more recently been neatly drilled deeper into the stone (in fact, a dial would now be workable using a rod or stick). So I conclude that there is evidence of dialishness, though doubtful.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Somerset Scratch Dial; Dom Ethelbert Horne

Credits: photos and research – Keith Salvesen (Nov 2025)

PETERCHURCH . CHURCH OF ST PETER . HEREFS – 3 Scratch Dials

Published on June 29, 2025July 27, 2025 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST PETER . PETERCHURCH . HEREFS

Grade 1 ✣ Foundations date to AD 745; Saxon work visible in sanctuary. Substantially Norman, built mid-C12 as a 4-chambered basilica (cf Kilpeck nearby). C13 – 14 alterations, additions. Restorations from mid C19. Impressive fibre glass spire installed 1970s. It replaces the last of several spire dramas since the original of c1320 was completed (see HERE). Situated in the Golden Valley of Herefs. 52.0412 / -2.9564 / SO344385

DIALS

DIAL 1

RHS of Priest’s door. A morning dial with 5 lines, each with a terminal pock. The noon line – slightly offset – has a pock halfway down.

❖❖❖❖

DIAL 2 [and 3]

On a substantial buttress, a small dial so basic that I discounted it at first. The 2 lines do not even descend properly from the gnomon hole 3 ins above. The hole looks as though it has been enlarged at some time. I assume it predated and was succeeded by Dial 1.

❖❖❖❖

DIAGRAMS OF ALL DIALS INCLUDING DIAL 3*

Dial 2: the 2 short lines LHS are near-invisible now. I wonder if they were ever part of a dial.

Dial 3: this morning dial is close to Dial 2, but I missed it. It must be above the coping stone.

❖❖❖❖

HEREFORDSHIRE DIALS The county is well-served by the excellent small book (1988) by Richard & Catherine Botzum. It covers both scratch dials and conventional church dials, with a few church marks at the end. It is a pleasant read, the sort of book I’d have enjoyed writing.