SAINT MARTIN . OMANVILLE-la-PETIT . CONTENTIN
An attractive vertical dial, accurately angled, with Arabic numerals. Semi-circle perimeter and round top gnomon stay. There’s a slight jeux d’ésprit feel to the gnomon. There was no sun on the dial when we visited: I wondered how well it would work in practice.
GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Church Sundial France; Ornamental Gnomon
All photos: Keith Salvesen
The church of St Gilles at Auderville is one of several churches in the region with similar dials located high up on one end, in this case the E buttress.
The dial is both canted and also slightly angled downwards, enough to notice from ground level. The Roman numerals are Blackletter, as can be found on other churches in the area. I haven’t come across the ‘horseshoe’ 9 before. The modern angled gnomon is plain and functional.
GSS Category: Vertical Dial Normandy France
All photos: Keith Salvesen
L’ÉGLISE SAINT-SAUVEUR et SAINT ÉTIENNE . COGOLIN . VAR
COGOLIN is an attractive and relatively small town with a harbour close to Port Grimaud. Both towns are a short jet-ski ride from St Tropez. The church, with its double dedication, may date to C11.
CHRIST IS THE LIGHT OF NATIONS
This intriguing dial was created by M. Garde-Lebreton in 2018. It manages to combine accuracy, legibility, and charm. An excellent bonus is the very careful explanation of the dial on a separate plate. An object lesson of modern dial design and analysis.
DIAL 2
St-Sauveur has a second attractive dial, another good example of a modern dial that combines its purpose with cheerful style. Engraved and painted on cement.
GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Dial on Church Wall; Modern Dial; France Sundial
CREDITS: Charly Salvesen with many thanks; R Collins; booking.com; Michel Lalos
The Chartreuse was founded in 1285 as a Carthusian nunnery and continued its religious functions until the French Revolution. Thereafter it became a school and in due course an orphanage. A disastrous fire in 1967 destroyed almost all the buildings on the site, with loss of life. Only the church and its cloister now remain. The church is an exhibition space and the lawns around it feature examples of modern art, from interesting via enjoyable to a few that are a matter of personal taste.
The dial is included by MICHEL LALOS in his excellent French Cadrans Solaires site. Anyone who has in interest in sundials in France will benefit hugely by using this free resource. It is accessible, informative, and easy to use – not least because the dials are featured by Départment with a map for dial locations. The entry for Mélan is :
Cadran peu déclinant de l’après-midi, gravé et peint sur enduit, très dégradé, fines lignes, demies, plus de chiffres dans bandeaux, traces de blason et décor
Dial slightly declining in the afternoon, engraved, painted on rendering, very degraded, fine lines, half-hour lines, numbers within a frame, traces of coat of arms and decoration.
There are paint remnants at the top of the dial, where (presumably) it has been protected by the eaves. The gnomon hole at the top of the coat of arms is square. The dial is obviously old and I wondered if it might be dateable. Checking the apparent shape of the escutcheon, I discovered that it was first recorded as an armorial design in late C17 and (conveniently) turns out to be known as French-style. Overall, one might reasonably conclude that this dial is C18.
MEMORIAL STONE 1690
GSS Category: Vertical Dial; France Sundial; Cadrans Solaires; Dials Abroad
All photos: Keith Salvesen; source used MICHEL LALOS
GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN 