GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN

WEST OVERTON . WILTS . ST MICHAEL – Vertical Dial

Published on June 21, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

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

ART NOUVEAU SUNDIAL by FRANCIS BARKER with LIBERTY PEDESTAL

Published on June 12, 2024June 13, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

FRANCIS BARKER DIAL with LIBERTY ART NOUVEAU PEDESTAL

This is a gnomon-less sundial that I dug out of a pigsty at my home. I was about 10. The sty had layers of compacted earth and garden material that almost reached the top, the legacy of the previous owners. I had always wondered whether there might be hidden treasure, and eventually my curiosity got the better of me.

I gradually dug down until, suddenly, my spade hit something with a loud clonk. It took a while but eventually I was able to prise out… a prize. It has lived on as a garden ornament / flower pedestal for many years, with 4 changes of address. Eventually it has settled in Dorset.

Later – by then a BSS member – I sought advice about my dial. In due course Sue Manston included the dial in an detailed article by Jo Elsworth in the BSS Bulletin 118. Volume 33(ii) – June 2021

The author Jo Elsworth notes that similar dials have been described as ‘Antique’ and Art Deco. For the reasons she gives, the classification as Art Nouveau is the most approriate,

Also in the garden: a modern armillary sphere, watched over by Father Time

GSS Category: Horizontal Dial; Barker Sundial Plate; Liberty Sundial Pedestal; Art Nouveau Sundial.

All photos: Keith Salvesen; BSS article – Sue Manston, with thanks

LYDEARD ST LAWRENCE . SOMERSET – Scratch Dial; Vertical Dial 1653

Published on June 10, 2024June 11, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST LAWRENCE . LYDEARD ST LAWRENCE . SOMERSET

GRADE 1 ❖ Saxon / Norman origins. Chancel and nave c1350, rest C15, restorations 1869 and late C20. A fine example of a Somerset church, most rewarding to visit. Early C16 screen, bench ends of note. Jacobean inverted font. Splendid doors that look entirely original. A bier and an interesting clock (not openly accessible). 10m NW of Taunton. 51.0819 / -3.2461 / ST128321

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SCRATCH DIAL

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The dial is easily seen on W side of the priest’s door. It is a pleasingly straightforward quarter dial marking 6 to noon. The line spacing is somewhat random, and there is some confusion around noon, with faint lines detectable.

DEH visited St Lawrence on Sep 27th 1913, one of his early expeditions. He noted: The stylehole is large and oval, and may have been made so in efforts to extract the style. It is hard to see why this should be done with no new style added; but it does show that the removal of the gnomon was more than a century ago, and not a recent act of vandalism.

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VERTICAL DIAL 1653

BSS Record: The hours use XII for noon and IIII for four pm, and VI, VII and VIII am are written backwards (round the clock’), as is not uncommon. Around the gnomon are carved I HT S / WARDNES / 1653, the W of WARDNES being superimposed Vs, and the letters NE being conjoined, both presumably to save space.

The gnomon is an iron bar with a hooked tip, and the straight support has a curled spur on the upper side and its own hook at the top.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Vertical Dial; Dated Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

STOCKTON . WILTS . ST JOHN THE BAPTIST – Multiple Scratch Dials

Published on June 6, 2024June 6, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST . STOCKTON . WILTS

GRADE I ✣ Late C12, C13, early C14, C15 and C17; restoration 1879. Interior has much of interest, described in detail by PEV. Two squints. One of several fine churches in the Wylye Valley, ranging from ruined Sutton Veny via tiny Tytherington small, medium to large. Most have at least one dial, all are worth a visit. 8m SE of Warminster 51.1433 / 2.0272 / ST981382

DIALS

St John is the supreme multi-dial church in the Wylye valley. BSS lists 17 in its records (some with circumspection). Although locations are noted, there are no drawings / images. It isn’t possible / practical to try to match my photos to the given locations in a helpful way. I have tried to sort indisputable dials from the probable, possible, and ‘not really’. My search started at the E end and mostly went W along the S side. I found 17 dials, from indisputable to some that I think meet the broad criteria.

There are 2 clusters on the ‘red’ buttresses: dials 6 – 9; and dials 11 -13

There are too many dials for detailed comment, with a variety of mostly conventional designs. A few may be rotated / re-sited. I have tried to display photos of the dials informatively and in approximate sequence E to W. A separate section deals with other candidates.

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DIAL 1

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DIAL 2

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DIAL 3

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DIAL 4

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DIAL 5

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DIAL 6

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DIAL 7

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DIAL 8

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DIAL 9

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DIAL 10

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DIAL 11

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DIAL 12

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DIAL 13

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DIAL 14

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DIAL 15

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DIAL 16

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DIAL 17

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DEBATABLE DIALS

PLAUSIBLE IN SOME WAY?

UNLIKELY / NOT AT ALL

GSS Category: Scratch Dials; Mass Dials; Multiple Dials; Medieval Church Sundials

All photos: Keith Salvesen

DURLSTON CASTLE . SWANAGE . DORSET – Vertical Dial (1887)

Published on June 2, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

DURLSTON CASTLE . SWANAGE . DORSET

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Durlston Country Park is close to Swanage and has much to offer. The ‘modern’ Castle was completed in 1891. There are extensive grounds, 5 walking / nature trails, sculptures, epochal details chiseled into stone tablets, Art Gallery, tea room, views across to IoW, a huge C19 stone globe, significant jurassic finds.

More germane here, high on S face is a fine vertical sundial (1887). Below it are two stone tablets inscribed with times and tides worldwide.

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DIAL

The dial is inset in the South wall about 5 m above the ground. It shows 6am to 6pm in half and quarter hours. Uses XII & IIII. White lines and chapter ring on a beige rectangular dial-plate all within a four piece chamfered stone frame. The Roman numerals arranged vertically. BSS

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An angled view reveals that the gnomon incorporates the initial B, standing for (George) Burt, the Victorian entrepreneur owner who conceived the idea of what we can still see today. It was (oddly?) described at the time as the most magnificently conceived restaurant.

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Two large incised tablets: essentially they deal with Time & Tides respectively

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GREAT GLOBE

Great Globe (1887), a vast perfectly formed stone ball inscribed with an eclectic selection of places. Many will be little known or unknown to random visitors such as me. The Society Isles (Pacific) sound pleasant.

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COMPASS POINTS

Stone Benches Surrounding the globe, at various heights and angles on a steep stope, are stone benches, each clearly marked with a compass point. In an ideal world there would be an equally fine analemmatic sundial.

GSS Category:

All photos by Keith Salvesen except header image Huligano0 OS CC

BRADFORD-ON-AVON . WILTS . TITHE BARN – Scratch Dial

Published on May 27, 2024May 28, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

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TITHE BARN . BRADFORD-ON-AVON . WILTS

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GRADE I ✣ The huge tithe barn is dated to the 1330s, replacing an older barn. Even allowing for restoration and maintenance over the centuries, the barn very much retains the feel of a building unchanged for several hundred years. Its situation right by – and lower than – the K&A canal adds to the pleasure of the general surroundings.

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DIAL

Scratch dials on buildings other than churches are rare. TWC mentions only 4 in his (admittedly dated) list of non-church dials, one of which is a tithe barn. Featured in this project are KENILWORTH ABBEY which has a dial on a barn that is a small part of the whole; and MUCHELNEY ABBEY which has one on the S wall of the Abbot’s Lodging. Neither can be regarded as entirely secular.

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The Bradford dial is located on the S wall on a buttress quoin stone near the entrance of the large E doorway. It is considerably eroded and damaged. I can’t see any trace of a dial above the horizontal and I take it to be a semicircle. There are ± 8 visible lines – impossible to be sure. The noon line is deeper cut and 9 (terce) seems more sharply incised, suggesting the main hour of observance. I am almost certain there there are terminal pocks on several lines, an impression taken more from the photos than from direct observation.

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PROTECTION MARKS AND GRAFFITI

Unsurprisingly for such a magnificent medieval structure, there is a vast omnium-gatherum of graffiti and protection marks, mainly at or close to the great entrances as one might expect. Anyone remotely interested in such marks will have a field day. Here is a small gallery.

ENGLISH HERITAGE

BRADFORD-ON-AVON MUSEUM

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Scratch Dial on Barn; Secular Mass Dials; Protection Marks; Medieval Graffiti

All photos: Keith Salvesen. Please ask for specific use permission to use any of these. Normally I am relaxed, but these images relate to parallel research.

LYME REGIS . SUNDIAL HOUSE . MARINE PARADE – Ornate Vertical Dial (1903)

Published on May 25, 2024May 25, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

SUNDIAL HOUSE . MARINE PARADE . LYME REGIS

GRADE II ✤ Set back from the Parade, the very visible sundial on what is described (BLB) as a 4-light splayed bay which descends through all storeys to ground floor, with sundial built into wall between 1st and ground floors. The house can be rented. The views of the Jurassic coastline and out to sea are wonderful (on a sunny Spring day, anyway). 50.7238 / -2.9358 / SY340919

DIAL

The dial itself has roman numerals from 5am to 4pm with a long slender gnomon. It is set within an exuberantly decorative frame, with a somewhat enigmatic ‘sun in splendour’ beaming down on it. The house is dated 1903, and the dial must have been designed as a prominent decorative feature. It is in very good condition. The town’s unbeatable Jurassic credentials are show in the large ammonites set into the surrounding stonework.

MOTTO

HORAS NON NUMERO NISI SERENAS

Gatty has a long entry (115) on this motto. Her translation is I only reckon the bright hours. She notes its use as a popular inscription, giving a dozen other locations where it can be found: the motto is too good to be uncommon. The earliest example of its use dates to c1500.

GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Modern Sundial; Sundial Motto

All photos: Keith Salvesen

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

Published on May 21, 2024 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

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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.

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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‘.

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SOUTH EAST ASPECT

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SOUTH WEST ASPECT

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DIAL MARKINGS

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

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SCRATCH DIAL HERE

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

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

POTTERNE . WILTS . ST MARY – Scratch Dial

Published on May 18, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST MARY . POTTERNE . WILTS

GRADE I ❖ Saxon origins; built C13; C15 work to tower; restorations 1870s. A remarkably uniform E.E. design HE; An E.E. church of exceptional purity and classicity PEV. Features of interest include an Anglo-Saxon tub font with rim inscribed in Latin; a C14 font; fine woodwork; C17(?) Royal Arms of puzzling design. Good graffiti on pillars. Outside, there is an unusual Dole Stone; and the scratch dial featured here. 2m S of Devizes. 51.326 / -2.0079 / ST995585

DIAL

The dial is located on a quoin stone of the buttress at W end of S side. The gnomon hole is centred quite accurately, and surrounded by a ring of small pocks of roughly equal size. The spacing is uneven. 12 of them are drilled in the lower half, in a semicircle that includes the horizontal ‘6-to-6’ line. The other 7 are above the horizontal in the night zone. The pock at notional midnight has 3 on either side, forming an almost symmetrical design. These can only be for decorative purposes, being of no use in marking the passage of the day / night.

As for radial lines, despite erosion 5 lines are visible – 3 LLQ, a faint noon line, the horizontal line RHS. Each terminates with a pock. There remain hints of 2 or 3 others.

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GRAFFITI . FONT WITH LATIN INSCRIPTION . COMPASS-DRAWN PROTECTION MARKS

The VV in the first image, assuming it is an initial, is in the distinctive form of a Marian mark, a commonly found protection symbol standing for the ‘Virgin of Virgins’.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos Keith Salvesen; header drawing from the Benefice site

STEEPLE ASHTON . WILTS . ST MARY – Large Vertical Dial

Published on May 17, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST MARY . STEEPLE ASHTON . WILTS

GRADE I ❖ Late C15 (dedication 1281). The tower belies the village’s name. In 1670 the original spire was twice struck by lightning, and destroyed. The 4-stage tower became the solution. One of the finest Perpendicular churches in the county PEV. Much of interest both interior and exterior. Take your time. Splendid grotesques. 5m E of Trowbridge. 51.3131 / -2.1356 / ST906571

The Roman numerals are stylishly incised, and the design of the dial is sophisticated enough to include quarter hour lines within the thin outer circle. I haven’t (yet) found a specific reference to the date of the dial. It ornaments the rather plain Tudor-ish porch and from the style, my hunch is that it was cut after the steeple dramas, and perhaps because of them.