UZERCHE . CORRÈZE . ABBATIALE ST PIERRE – Early Scratch / Mass Dial

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Wiki . OS

ABBATIALE ST PIERRE . UZERCHE . CORRÈZE

Records of a ‘primitive building’ on this site date from C6. Subsequent monastic development followed. The present building dates from C11 (chancel, N transept); C12 (nave); C13 (expansion). Later in its long history the Abbey survived turbulent times during the many uprisings and downfalls in France. The Abbey was restored in the early C20. There is a saying ‘He who owns a house in Uzerche has a castle in the Limousin‘

This unusually large dial is cut on the SW buttress of the imposing entrance doorway. It is too grand to be given the normal designation ‘scratch dial’. The much less used description ‘Mass dial’ seems more appropriate in this case. It is accurately cut , and within the circle the 5 radials form 6 segments in the lower half of the dial. It is in remarkably good condition apart from the damage to the lower right quadrant. Further research is needed to find a plausible date-span for the dial’s construction.

Photography: Plaxy Arthur, with many thanks; Jacques Mossot os / cc

CANFORD MAGNA . DORSET . Vertical Dial

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CANFORD MAGNA CHURCH . DORSET

VERTICAL DIAL

For the Canford Scratch Dial see HERE

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

DIAL

A fine dial above the S chapel in fair condition, rather attractively decorated with lichen. The dial is canted to face S, and shows the hours and half-hours from 6am to 6pm in Roman numerals. There seems to be no record of its date, but I will try to find out.

The inscription (‘motto’) begins I PASS… (?), but it’s hard to make out more. I will add it in due course when I have the Motto Bible to hand.

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.

GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Vertical Dial on Church

All photos: Keith Salvesen

HAMPRESTON . DORSET . ALL SAINTS – Scratch Dial

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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

MILBORNE PORT . SOMERSET . Vertical Dial on chimney . 1691

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MILBORNE PORT . SOMERSET

VERTICAL DIAL

The 1691 vertical dial on the Old Post Office in the centre of the village is in an unusual position, on the south-facing side of a tall chimney. It is repositioned, and predates the later prosperity and significance of Milborne Port in C18. At one time there were several local industries. There was even a large ‘ball court’ (for a form of Fives) that still exists as a ruin; and a polo ground. The small size and the height of the dial renders it unsatisfactory for marking the passage of the day. The theory that it was moved during the expansion of the main part of the village and retained as part of the community’s history may be the most plausible explanation for its present position.

BSS record: Eroded. Markings extremely hard to make out. Hourly markings. Arabic numerals. Presumed to show 6am to 6pm. Open triangular gnomon.

As noted above, Milborne Port was once an important and prosperous village, benefiting from the London road. I have added a link below for anyone who wants to get an idea of its former significance. The village of today, while retaining much evidence of its past, seems no longer the thriving community of former times.

MILBORNE PORT BHO

GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Early Vertical Sundial; Dated Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

CANFORD MAGNA . DORSET . Scratch Dial

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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

ILCHESTER . SOMERSET . ST MARY – Scratch Dial

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ST MARY MAJOR . ILCHESTER . SOMERSET

GRADE II* ❖ C13 and later, south aisle added 1870s. Three stage octagonal tower, a feature of this area of Somerset (see Barrington, Stoke St Gregory, North Curry, Podimore and Weston Bamfylde). Close by is a fine market cross with a cube dial, also found in other towns and villages locally (eg Martock, Ilchester) – separate post in due course. 51.0009 / -2.6818 / ST522226

DIAL

Without guidance, it would be easy to overlook the dial. DEH does not mention it. I only discovered it from the very informative church leaflet. Despite the clues to its position, it still took me a while to find the relocated and inverted dial, barely 2ft off the ground.

Dial details – Church Leaflet

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REVERSION

With relocated dials, especially inverted ones, it’s often worth seeing how they originally looked. This dial takes on a different appearance when righted.

The two dark areas are almost certainly the footings for a vertical sundial. The slight alignment to the right of vertical suggests a calculated angle. The leaflet note that the dial used to be high on the south wall of the nave definitely suggests a vertical dial rather than a scratch dial (which would be pointless in a high position). Seeing it in its original location, I might have described it as an inverted vertical dial with a damaged surround and erosion evident, especially RHS where faint lines can just be detected.

So, without being didactic, I can’t be sure that this is a scratch dial as opposed to a later vertical dial. All comments welcome.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Octagonal Church Tower Somerset; Vertical Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

SHERBORNE SCHOOL (SSG) . DORSET . VERTICAL DIAL

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SCIENCE BUILDING DIAL

This ingenious dial is located on the south front of the school’s new science building. The Old Shirburnian Society site has a helpful ARTICLE featuring various sundials in the town: here is the relevant entry.

The vertical solar dial on the south front of the science building (opened in October 2011) includes strong references to science. Designed in green slate and stainless steel by David M. Brown of David Brown Sundials in Somerton, each of the ‘numbers’ on the dial is represented by the chemical symbol of that number (e.g., the atomic number for Hydrogen is 1, so there is an H where the 1 would be). It also includes the symbols of Cancer marking the summer solstice and Capricorn marking the winter solstice.

The photos were taken recently at two events at the school, one during the day and the other in the evening. The distance to and the height of the dial precluded clarity using a phone lens. As it has turned out, the main evening photo gives the best detail of the various elements of the dial noted above.

GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Modern Sundial; Technical Sundial; Scientific Sundial

All photos: Keith Salvesen; Descriptive material from Old Shirburnian Society

KINSON . DORSET . ST ANDREW – Scratch Dial

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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

OSLO . FROGNER PARK . ARMILLARY SPHERES by Vigeland (1930); Wegner (1837)

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ARMILLARY SPHERES

GUSTAV VIGELAND

VIGELAND-PARKEN OPEN AIR ART INSTALLATION

Gustav Vigeland (Thorsen) (1869 – 1943) was a Norwegian sculptor much admired for his creative imagination and productivity. His most notable work is the monumental ‘Vigeland Installation’ in the Frogner Park Oslo, compared to which his sundial is a footnote. Although generally acclaimed, Vigeland’s work is viewed by some as having uncomfortable connotations in several respects. The static interaction of the dozens of babies, children, women, and men might – nearly 100 years later – raise eyebrows. Having skimmed the topic I rather agree (despite being of Norwegian descent. Or because of it maybe).

The armillary sphere was installed in 1930, a distinctively Scandinavian variation from designs further south in Europe, in a good way. The heavily sculpted dais is a duodecagon showing the Signs of the Zodiac in bold (lumpen?) relief.

BENJAMIN WEGNER

The armillary sphere is located outside the Frogner manor house (now the City Museum) in the south of the park. Wegner aquired the parkland in 1836, and the sphere was probably installed the following year.

Photographer: Vanasan, Wiki

There is very little information about this dial online, and only one clear photo that I could find. As often, Wiki can help clarify obscurity:

The sundial is constructed as an open globe, where the meridians cast a shadow on sunny days onto the inner part of the globe, hitting the inside of the equator line and thus showing the time, specifically the astronomical solar time. Odd Gunnar Skagestad wrote in 2020 that the nearly 200-year-old sundial is greatly neglected and called for efforts to preserve it

GSS Category: Armillary Sphere; City Sundial; Norway Sundial

All Vigeland photos Camilla Pennant; Wegner Dial, ‘Vanasan’

All photo

WEST OVERTON . WILTS . ST MICHAEL – Vertical Dial

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West Overton, 5m W of Marlborough, lies within the mystical area that includes Avebury, Silbury Hill, long barrows, tumuli, sarsens and so on. St. Michael was built in 1878, replacing an older church on the site. The Tower was completed last. High up on S side is a fine Victorian sundial complete with a motto in period lettering. The time scale shows 5am to 3pm in half and (some) quarter hours. The dial was restored in 2003, as detailed by the excellent SUNDIALS.CO, an eclectic site that no dialist should overlook.

The dial was correctly delineated to face 38° east of south. The cast bronze gnomon fell off but was kept by the church wardens. Its original angle was incorrect, and it was set into a slot in the stone to compensate. Restoration involved re-engineering the gnomon and making new clamps to fix it. The dial itself was renovated [précis]

MOTTO

The motto Watch and Pray / Time steals away is quite frequently found in this or in similar forms. Gatty lists several examples from different parts of England. The source seems to be biblical, from Mark 13.33-37: Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Victorian Sundial; Sundial Motto

All photos: Keith Salvesen