ARMILLARY SPHERES
A CONTRASTING PAIR DISPLAYED TOGETHER
A pair of armillary spheres dating to about 1700 show competing models of the universe. One has the Earth stationary at the center in the Ptolemaic system of the ancient Greeks. The other shows the later Copernican system, in which the sun is at the center and the Earth and the other planets revolve around it HoHS
ST GILES . ARMILLARY SPHERE
The armillary sphere is on the grassy area close to St Giles churchyard, where the road north forks towards Blenheim NW, and to Banbury NE. It was evening and rain had been pelting down. The way to a pub led me past the dial, and I was tempted to see what an iPhone camera would make of it.
The dial was given to The City of Oxford in 1986 by its twin city Bonn, and made by a local blacksmith (to Bonn, that is.)
BSS RECORD: Modern equatorial memorial dial in an armillary sphere in the churchyard. The dial is the equatorial ring of an armillary sphere. It shows 6am to 6pm with raised cast Roman hour numerals and half hour dots. The other two rings are vertical – a north-south meridian ring open on the south side and an east-west ring. The axial arrow forms the gnomon. There is no nodus. It is not adjustable for latitude. The dial is mounted on a small stone slab. There is a small plaque on the slab.
Margaret Stanier in her book on Oxford dials, calls it a fine bit of ironwork, with bold numerals, easy to read. She notes that the rings are positioned so that their shadows cannot obliterate that of the gnomon.
The experiment with a phone worked quite well, I think. The details are legible, possibly more so than photos taken in sunlight. And it makes a change.
GSS Category: Armillary Sphere; Modern Dial; Oxford Sundials
All photos: Keith Salvesen
GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN 