Tag: C18 Vertical Dial

CLEY-NEXT-THE-SEA . NORFOLK . ST MARGARET – A Horizontal Vertical dial

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St Margaret of Antioch . Cley-Next-The-Sea . Stained Glass Window (cr Keith Salvesen)

ST MARGARET . CLEY-NEXT-THE-SEA . NORFOLK

GRADE 1 † C14 and C15. An important and rather wonderful church, part-ruined. One of SJ‘s 1000 Best Churches: a sea church stranded inland. PEV describes a most striking and improbable-looking building, splendid from the S, but splendid in large parts rather than as a whole. 52.9464 / 1.0475 / TG048431

DIAL

I am grateful to my friends in Cley, Hanne Siebers and Klausbernd Vollmar, for discovering and photographing this most unusually positioned dial that has been incorporated into the floor of the church, serving a new purpose despite its damaged state.

St Margaret . Cley-next-the-Sea – Vertical Dial set in the Chancel Floor (Hanne Siebers & Klausbernd Vollmar

The lines are more-or-less equally spaced, suggesting that the dial’s aspect was originally due S. The hours are separated by lozenges, and half-hours are marked. At the back / top end of the dial, there is considerable damage. It is just possible to make out a semicircle with a hole where the gnomon would have been. The incised numerals VII, VIII, III, and IV are less worn and indeed are surprisingly sharp, which might suggest that the dial was below a ledge of some sort that protected the upper part from weathering. One puzzle is the way in which VIII is split by a single crack, yet part of the numeral appears to be missing completely.

DATING THE DIAL

I initially thought that the dial was ±1800. The date of its removal and repositioning was unrecorded in the usual sources. As it turns out (with many thanks to Rev. Richard Lowery and Richard Jefferson) the change of location happened within the last 50 years or so. The dial had been high up on the S porch, but had become a danger. It was taken down and set in the floor of the chancel. The damage occurred at some stage during the relocation.

The earliest depiction I can find is a lovely drawing by John Sell Cotman dated 1818. It gives the dial due prominence and I think it can be confidently dated to ±1750. The work interestingly show the state of ruination as Cotman saw it.

St Margaret . Cley-next-the-Sea – John Sell Cotman – Art Institute of Chicago

Old photos and postcards can be a good way to approximate a date (or a span)

In 1959, C L S Linnell produced a Booklet for the Church. It was obviously successful – there were 4 reprints, the last in 1973. The cover photo of the Church shows the dial in its rightful place (though quite probably it was not updated for the reprints). Certainly by 2000, the dial had been repurposed.

An excellent account of the church and some of its medieval details (roof bosses &co) can be found with this link NORFOLK CHURCHES.

GSS Category: Sundial; Vertical Dial; Old Dial; Repositioned Dial

Photographs: header photo, Keith Salvesen; dial photos (with edits for clarity), Hanne Siebers and Klausbernd Vollmar with thanks as ever for their interest in this dial project and for their excellent contributions from other churches; other images os / cc / as shown

SHERBORNE ABBEY . DORSET . ST MARY THE VIRGIN – Vertical Dial 1745

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St Mary the Virgin . Sherborne Abbey . Dorset

GRADE I † Founded by St. Aldhelm in AD 705 as a Saxon Cathedral, Sherborne Abbey became a Benedictine monastery, and following the Dissolution of the monasteries, a Parish Church of some splendour. Of all the architectural features, the astonishing [earliest major PEV] fan vaulting is arguably the finest. This is not the place for discussion of the merits of the church. The Wiki entry is a helpful source for an overview of SHERBORNE ABBEY 

St Mary the Virgin . Sherborne Abbey . Dorset

The large Vertical dial at the E end is impressive and visible from some distance. The Old Shirburnian Society records:

The south-facing vertical dial on the south-east end of Sherborne Abbey was erected in 1745 by Sherborne School at a cost of £5.5s.0d. It was built by the Sherborne architect Benjamin Bastard (1690-1776), son of Thomas Bastard of Blandford Forum. 

The modern gnomon is effective and casts an attractive shadow; it could be argued that its style and fixings do not quite do justice to a C18 dial.

St Mary the Virgin . Sherborne Abbey . Dorset – Vertical Sundial

The gallery above might suggest overuse of saturation, but the photos – at various distances to show other features – were taken on an iPhone on a bright sunny early winter’s morning, and are un-enhanced (not always the case, I must admit). We were fortunate enough to be married in this glorious building.

GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Abbey Church

All photos: Keith Salvesen