Tag: Dated Sundial

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

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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

    SALISBURY . THE CLOSE . ‘LIFE’S BUT A WALKING SHADOW’ – Vertical Dial 1749

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    Malmesbury House . St Ann’s Gate . Salisbury . Wilts – Vertical Dial 1749

    The Close in Salisbury has plenty to recommend it besides a central building for which superlatives are inadequate. Malmesbury House (GV I) by St Ann’s Gate has a particular claim to fame in sundial terms, with the context succinctly explained in the image below. 51.0659 / -1.7938 / SU145296

    The very fine sundial on the house is dated 1749. The motto is part of the familiar speech taken from Macbeth Act 5 Scene 5 as Macbeth reacts to the news of Lady Macbeth’s death. It’s not exactly uplifting.

    Below is a short text from the Gospel of St John. The dial itself is in very good condition. My amateurishness precludes any meaningful interpretation of the scientific aspect. I will add any significant details in due course.

    Malmesbury House . St Ann’s Gate . Salisbury . Wilts – Vertical Dial 1749

    GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Sundial Motto

    All photos: Keith Salvesen

    BOCONNOC PARISH CHURCH . CORNWALL – Vertical Dial (1716)

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    Boconnoc Parish Church

    BOCONNOC PARISH CHURCH . CORNWALL

    GRADE I † The Church forms part of the Boconnoc Estate and has no Dedication*. Probably C12 origins as the Manor Chapel; gradual development; restored 1873. Now in the care of the Cornwall Historic Churches Trust. 10 m SW of Liskeard. 50.4159 / -4.6099 / SX146605

    DIAL

    The time-worn dial is set into the apex of the porch and canted westwards. Dated 1716, it is also inscribed with a set of 3 double initials RC, DT, & TG. ‘RC’ is in a different style, and the date – perhaps significantly – is below the two other pairs of initials. Possibly the latter installed the dial in honour of the former.

    The dial shows 1/4 as well as 1/2 hours. The 12 of noon is replaced by a cross. IIII is used for IV. The gnomon is presumably not original, but has clearly been in situ for a considerable time.

    Boconnoc Parish Church – Sundial dated 1716

    * Sadly no St Boconnoc is listed in the Ox. Book of Saints)

    GSS Category: Vertical Dial. Old (post medieval) Dial

    Photos: Keith Salvesen; Header CHCT