DEDICATION † ST MARY THE VIRGIN – C12 origins, mainly C15 perpendicular, later additions & restoration
LISTING † GRADE I
LOCATION † 4 miles SW. Sherborne, 3 miles SE. Yeovil. ‘Abbot’s Broad Ford’. A significant settlement from Roman times. Associated with Saxon King Athelstan. One of the larger villages in the area, attractive and with an inviting pub close to the church. 50.9265 / -2.5884 / ST587142
FEATURE † New dial recorded (see Dial 3)
St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Dorset . Scratch dials 1 & 2
DIALS † High on SW. buttress of porch, two scratch dials, one on top of the other. Well-documented. The top dial seems less sophisticated and more eroded, so perhaps is the oldest (AOW drew it as dial 1). Rather obtrusive vertical repairs to both. I found a 3rd dial high up on the tower, clearly relocated and inverted (see below). I have found no mention of it anywhere: a new find perhaps.
DIALS 1 & 2
St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Dorset . Scratch dials 1 & 2
The top dial. 13 radial, 7 dots. Deeper & longer 8-line. Style hole filled. AOW notes Square outline. Transitional
Lower dial. Semicircle, 11 radials, 10 dots. Style hole filled. Morning radial notably extend beyond the circle line.
St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Scratch Dials (Keith Salvesen)
DIAL 3
St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Scratch Dial 3 (unrecorded)St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Scratch Dial 3 (unrecorded)
NOTES † Dials 1 & 2 recorded and drawn by AOW, mentioned BSS / GLP , BHO; Dial 3 unrecorded
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 rural place. 50.8762 / -2.5445 / ST617086
St Andrew . Leigh . Dorset . Scratch Dial
DIAL † On W. side jamb of porch, a very small rustic dial, eroded / damaged LHS, mid to late C15. Full circle with 4 detectable radials, the (presumed) noon line being extended outside the circumference at a slight angle. Probably originally divided into eight equal segments GLP, who dates the dial to the second half of C15
Seen close to, there are hints that the adjacent area with the large bolt may once have been a dial, with the hole for a small style (originally centred) overwhelmed by its replacement and erosion. A nearby hole, slightly lower, on the inside of the jamb, looks promising as a dial but on inspection, disappoints.
St Andrew . Leigh . Dorset . Scratch Dial
NOTES † Recorded in BSS register as researched by GLP. Not mentioned elsewhere. C13 font; interesting West Door with shields in the spandrels, one bearing three hanks of cord and the other a merchant’s markBHO; also graffiti with date, initials, witch and other marks; enjoyable gargoyles. Elsewhere, a few incised crosses, presumably apotropaic in purpose.
Graffiti and marks . West Porch . St Andrew . Leigh . Dorset
DEDICATION † ST JAMES the GREAT C12 origins, C13 tower, C15 rebuilding, later additions
LISTING † GRADE I
LOCATION † 3 miles S of Sherborne, a long narrow village on the main road to Dorchester – rather a traffic bottleneck. ‘A linear village slowly descending to marshy land…’(PEV) Church slightly set back in its peaceful-seeming churchyard. Besides the excellent scratch dial, there is a fine vertical sundial high on the S. buttress of the tower (merits a separate post in due course) 50.9132 / -2.5008 / ST648127
ADDENDUM: link to subsequent post featuring a hitherto unrecorded scratch dial and the vertical dial on the tower HERE
St James . Longburton . Dorset – Scratch Dial
DIAL † Sundial: On S.E. buttress of nave—stone cut with scratch-dial and two crosses (BHO). Reached through a small stone gateway, not a location easily guessed. Dial in good condition, additional marks shown in images. 4 emphasised radials.
St James . Longburton . Dorset – Scratch Dial with crossesSt James . Longburton . Dorset – Scratch Dial location
NOTES † As mentioned, there is a fine vertical sundial with an interesting split gnomon on the tower S. buttress, to be posted soon. Also, excellent gargoyles and head stops. Below are the 2 crosses on the dial stone, one with dot decoration.
St James . Longburton . Dorset – 2 crosses adjacent to the dial
DEDICATION † ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS First recorded 1266, later work & repairs from C18. Significantly, the porch was added in 1602: Wulfric Benefice archive (C17 BHO; C18 HE, BLB)
LISTING † GRADE II*
LOCATION † 3 miles S. of Crewkerne as the crow flies, yet a journey into the past. A small rural community down a lane with an ancient church, its appearance slightly spoiled by being ‘pebbledashed’ yet an interior with ‘a barn-like charm’ PEV. Adjacent to a wonderful Grade 1 Manor likened in certain resects to Montacute. Friendly Kuni Kuni pigs nearby. 50.8563 / -2.847 / ST404066
DIAL
DH 127. This dial is on the e. side of the inner door of the s. porch. It is 4 feet 11 inches above the floor, the noon-line is only 1 1/4 inches in length, the style-hole is 1 inch deep by 5/8 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is due s. Type 3.August 19th, 1915
DH NOTEThis is a quaint and probably very ancient little dial. The a.m. lines are longer than the noon line, which is cut off by the edge of the stone. The porch over this dial looks extremely old. The head of the outer door is cut from one huge piece of stone in the form of a rough debased arch, and is of the most primitive kind of workmanship.
The dial clearly precedes the later addition of the porch. It would be good to know what DH considered to be ‘very ancient’. C14 or even C13? See first image for the whole porch and ‘huge’ head stone. Perhaps it was a relic from a much earlier building – maybe a medieval part of the original Manor – repurposed for the new porch.
St Michael & All Angels . Wayford . Som. – Scratch Dial
NOTES † Dials inside a porch are not as rare as one might expect. A porch was often a much later addition to a church. DH identified 12 in Somerset alone. This dial is listed by TWC; not found in other usual sources
PART 1LINKfeatured Dials 1 & 2 on Rimpton church – two of the four dials identified and recorded by Dom Ethelbert Horne (DH) of Downside Abbey, the Father of modern dialling so to speak. In 1913 – 15 he made several trips around Somerset collecting dials, measuring and recording them in great detail. He went on to produce his pioneering book about dials, published in 1917.
LOCATION † Between Sherborne & Marston Magna, on the Som. / Dorset boundary. S 50.9948 / -2.5565 / ST610218
DOM ETHELBERT HORNE
DH (1852 – 1952) was a Benedictine monk at Downside Abbey. The Archives state that he was “a noted archaeologist, antiquary and folklorist… and published works on subjects as diverse as holy wells, mistletoe, scratch dials and St Aldhelm”. Between 1913 – 15 he made several tours around Somerset in search of scratch dials. In 1917, he published his delightfully written book ‘Primitive Sun Dials or Scratch Dials’ containing several chapters about dials, their construction and their purpose. These were followed by a detailed analysis, by district, of 224 dials that he located. He divided these into 12 main types, for each of which there are photographs, including a Rimpton dial (see Part 1). DH’s 4 Rimpton dials are numbers 212 – 215 in the Yeovil District list.
DIALS † This article covers DH dials 3 & 4 of the multiple dials on this church. I have visited the church twice and found other dials & less convincing candidates. These will be written up separately in Part 3.
DH DIAL 3
214. (3) This dial is on the w. side of the window to w. of priest’s door. It is 5 feet above the ground, the noon line is 5 1/4 inches in length, the style hole 5/8 of an inch in depth by 3/4 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 15°e. Type 3.
NOTE † a. the trace of a circle, upper left and b. the small dial hanging down from the mortar line above. More on the additional dials on Rimpton church in Part 3.
LOCATION CONUNDRUM
The dial location given above presents a puzzle. Put simply, an error may have crept at some stage between DH finding and noting the dial shown here; transcribing his notes to a more formal record; preparing a draft for publication; or in the printing.
There are 4 prominent and obvious dials. Dials 1, 2 and 4 are unproblematic. However in 2 visits, I haven’t been able to locate Dial 3 (or any dial) as described and in that location. The remaining ‘obvious’ dial is on the W. side of the window to W. of the porch – the dial shown here (although it is plainly not ‘5 feet above the ground’). The converse is that the dial shown here, on the W. side of the window from dial 2 (see marked image) was missed by DH.
DH DIAL 4
St Mary . Rimpton . Som. DH Dial 4
215. (4) This dial is w. of the priest’s door. It is 4 feet 9 inches above the ground, the noon-line is 4 inches in length, the style hole is filled up, and the aspect is s.by15°e. Type5b.
St Mary . Rimpton . Som. DH Dial 4
NOTES † Comments on the question of Dial 3 would be welcome. There an interesting and informative Parish website that is well-worth visiting LINK.
DEDICATION † ST MARY – early C13, alterations c.1500, N transept added C19.
LISTING † Grade 1
LOCATION † Between Sherborne & Marston Magna, on the Som. / Dorset boundary. Secluded, approached by narrow roads. Historical significance. A small village with plenty of listed buildings to enjoy. Church opposite Manor House at the end of a lane (a good walk starts from there) 50.9948 / -2.5565 / ST610218
DOM ETHELBERT HORNE
DH (1852 – 1952) was a Benedictine monk at Downside Abbey. The Archives state that he was “a noted archaeologist, antiquary and folklorist… and published works on subjects as diverse as holy wells, mistletoe, scratch dials and St Aldhelm”. Between 1913 – 15 he made several tours around Somerset in search of scratch dials. In 1917, he published his delightfully written book ‘Primitive Sun Dials or Scratch Dials’ containing several chapters about dials, their construction and their purpose. These were followed by a detailed analysis, by district, of 224 dials that he located. He divided these into 12 main types, for each of which there are photographs. The Rimpton dials are numbers 212 – 215 in Yeovil District.
MULTIPLE DIALS
DIALS † Part 1 concerns two of the four dials recorded in detail by Dom Ethelbert Horne (DH) during his dial tour of Som. in May 1915. He devised a method of categorising dials by appearance, and ascribed a ‘Type’ to each, as shown in the entries below. Part 2 covers DH dials 3 & 4. Having visited the church twice recently I have found 3 or 4 more dials and a couple of less convincing candidates. These will be written up separately in Part 3.
DH DIAL 1
St Mary . Rimpton . Som. Scratch Dial DH1 . West end
212. (1) This dial is at the w. end of the church on s. quoin of the window under the tower. It is 4 feet 6 1/2 inches above the ground, the noon-line is about 2 inches in length, the style-hole, which is very shallow, is 3/4 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is due w. Type 3. [DH further notes: Dial No. 1 has been moved from its original place and used as a quoin for the w. window. The mortar round the stone is of different date from that of the adjoining stones.
St Mary . Rimpton . Som. Scratch Dial DH1 . West end
DH DIAL 2
St Mary . Rimpton . Som. Scratch Dial DH2 . W. of S. Porch
213. (2) This dial is on the e. side of the first window from the w.end. It is 3 feet 8 1/4 inches above the ground, the noon- line is 6 1/2 inches in length, the style hole is 1 inch deep by 3/4 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 15° e. Type 8.
St Mary . Rimpton . Som. Scratch Dial DH2 . W. of S. Porch
St Mary . Rimpton . Som. Dial DH2 . Illustration from Dom Horne’s book 1917
NOTES † Strangely, no dials – let alone a collection of them – are referenced in BLB BHO or HE. There is however an interesting and informative Parish website LINK.
St Mary . Rimpton . Som. Locations of Scratch Dial DH2 and (see next post) DH4
OTHER MARKS
St Mary . Rimpton . Probable Apotropaic / Ritual Protection Marks . 1. Above Priest’s Door 2. S. Porch
Eglise de Chavot-Courcourt . Epernay . Marne . Scratch Dial
LOCATION This handsome church is set scenically in the middle of extensive vineyards on all sides, a few miles south-east of Épernay. It is a notable distance from the nearest house. The church dates from 1202. The romanesque tower, nave, transept and apse were built later, around 1560. 49°00′16″N 3°55′50″E
DIAL The dial – which from a distance looks rustic – is in a prominent position carved into the stone lintel above the side-door, a very clear indicator of the progress of the day for the locals working in the fields. It is in excellent condition, perhaps thanks to its high location and to the clean air. The radials are spaced with some precision. A narrow double circle is supplemented by a less clear or eroded wider circle. There are several dots in plausible places; conversely, few if any dots on the rest of the lintel. My amateur guess is that the relative sophistication of the dial suggests that it was cut later than the date of the doorway. Any views on this are welcome – there’s a comment box below.
LOCATION † STANTON is four miles north of Winchcombe, one of several attractive Cotswold villages in the immediate area. Many of the local churches feature scratch dials, Glos. as a whole being a hotspot. The Church of St Michael has, besides a scratch dial, a time-worn sundial over the porch. 52.0067 / -1.9013 / SP068342
DIALS † The scratch dial is on the right side of the fine projecting porch towards the edge, and easily visible as you approach. It looks as elementary a circle dial as one could imagine. The sundial is set high on the parapet above the doorway, seemingly old, definitely battered, and with a tilted gnomon.
Stanton Glos. St Michael & All Angels . Scratch Dial
Stanton Glos. St Michael & All Angels . Scratch Dial
STANTON: THE SUNDIAL
Stanton Glos. St Michael & All Angels . SundialStanton Glos. St Michael & All Angels . Sundial
NOTES † Apart from inclusion in TW‘s extensive list of Glos. dials, I have found no further information. Not referenced in BHO / BLB / HE. For interest: the VG Stanton website notes “several bench ends are deeply ringed by the dog-chains of the sheepdogs, brought by their masters to church” and that stone benches in the porch were for the infirm to sit on and lean against the wall: “the weakest go to the wall”.
LINKS † Tony Wood TW: Mass Dials in Gloucestershire LINK ; Stanton Village Church online LINK
DEDICATION † ST ROCH (unique Anglican dedication) C14, earlier origins, records from 1297
LISTING † GRADE II*
LOCATION † A seemingly remote hamlet despite its proximity to Yeovil to NE. Reached down a long lane and set among wooded hills. A farming community with the feel of an earlier era. The church is behind the attractive manor house and approached by a private path 50.8910°N 2.6819°W ST 5224 1049
St Roch . Pendomer . Som. – Scratch Dial
DIAL † DEH (p.85) visited Pendomer during his tour of churches in June 1915. The combined types of dial he mentions do not include the double-dot circle (I haven’t seen one before). The marks are clear, the condition is good. The dial is located on the largest stone to the right of the doorway. For other visible marks, see below.
209. This dial is on the e. side of a blocked-up doorway on the s. side. It is 3 feet 11 inches above the ground, the noonline is 3 1/4 inches in length, the stylehole is 5/8 of an inch deep by 1/2 an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 12° w. Type 11, combining 10. June 16th, 1915.
St Roch . Pendomer . Som. – Scratch Dial
OTHER MARKS † There are 2 distinct circles – not mentioned by DEH – to the left of the dial, overlapping each other and the dial. There’s a definite hint of a ‘daisy wheel’ in the larger circle, suggesting a Consecration Cross, but it is hard to see why two overlapping crosses would be cut; or why they would be superimposed on the dial or vice versa.
NOTES † The only other St Roch dedication is the Catholic Church, Glasgow. The font is thought to date back to the original C13 church. The list of incumbents is unbroken from Johannis Personis 1297 (I wonder if ‘Personis’ indicates that his second name, if he had one, was not known – so, ‘John Person’). Dial listed by TWC; not mentioned in online resources (HE, BLB, BHO).
Pendomer the hamlet is mentioned in the DOMESDAY BOOK. The link will take you to the wonderful Open Domesday Book online, an authoritative and fascinating resource. The DB Pendomer entry is featured and translated in the Pendomer links recommended below.
St Roch has an excellent Church Booklet available at the church or online HERE and an informative Pendomer website covering the history of the village and St Roch HERE
SEE REVISED VERSION OF THIS POST HERELINK – APRIL 2021
FOLLOWING A VISIT IN APRIL SUNSHINE RATHER THAN JANUARY DRIZZLE, ENJOY THE DETAIL OF THIS UNUSUAL DIAL IN ALL ITS GLORY
DEDICATION † ST MARY THE VIRGIN – from mid C14, gradual expansion, C18 work
LISTING † Grade II*
LOCATION † South of Sherborne towards Cerne Abbas. Approached by lanes more than roads. 50.872 / -2.4558 / 2°27’20″W / ST68008
Straggling small village. Records from C12. In 1985 the Parish name was changed from Wootton Glanville (I haven’t explored the reason). A peaceful feel to the community.
DIAL † On W. buttress of S. wall of S. Chapel, with iron gnomon in square style hole. Dot dial with varied sizes (see close up #5). Suspicion of faint radials, but on a dark day it was hard to tell then or indeed from the photos – see diagram. BSS Gnomon is iron, 130mm long, rectangular cross section. Modern
NOTES † noted in RCHM / BHO but not BLB / HE / TWC
GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN 