Hampshire Sundial – GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN

WINTER OBELISK & HORIZONTAL SUNDIAL . SELBORNE . HANTS

Published on July 27, 2022July 28, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Selborne in Hampshire was home to the C18 naturalist GILBERT WHITE (1720 – 93), renowned naturalist and considered to be one of the earliest ecologists. The link above will take you to the Wiki page about him. The history of the garden can be found at SELBORNE. If you are in the area, Selborne is well worth visiting. In particular, the extensive park contains examples of White’s propagation and conservation ideas that were way ahead of their time. And two very different dials.

Much the most interesting feature at Selborne for present purposes is the Winter Obelisk, based on an idea by White. The structure is designed to ‘mark the position of sunset on the shortest day as viewed from the Great Parlour‘. Possibly it is a unique example of an obelisk dial having such a special – and limited – purpose. Perhaps it doesn’t count as a dial at all (cf Stonehenge / summer solstice). Seeing the shadows cast on the grass by the structure, perhaps there is scope to mark out a different kind of dial with a wider application (though not necessarily when viewed from the Great Parlour).

The second dial at Selborne is conventional and very much a park dial, standing above the Ha-ha. Is the dial contemporary in the historic sense, or in the modern sense (there are similar early C20 dials)? The former it seems: Both the ha-ha and the stone sundial standing on the lawn above it were features of White’s ‘New Gardens’. HE

GSS Category: Sundial; Horizontal Dial; Obelisk Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

PRESTON CANDOVER OLD CHURCH . HANTS . ST MARY THE VIRGIN – 2 Scratch Dials

Published on July 26, 2022August 4, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST MARY THE VIRGIN . PRESTON CANDOVER . HANTS

GRADE II † C12 origins (c1190), mostly destroyed by a fire in 1681 and rebuilt. Dilapidation and a new Parish church built in the village centre in 1883 led to demolition of all but the Chancel. In the 1920s used as a mortuary chapel. Stones mark the outline of part of the nave. In the care of CCT. 8m S of Basingstoke. 51.1687 / -1.138 / SU603414

DIALS

Both dials are on the south wall of the Chancel, L of the blocked Priest’s door.

DIAL 1

Dial 1 is small and, remarkably, on the lowest stone of the doorway where it would have been of negligible use. It was obviously repositioned during rebuilding and in the process rotated 90º clockwise so that the deeper cut noon line is horizontal rather than vertical to the ground. Encircled but not accurately – slightly elliptical. There are a dozen lines or so radiating from the gnomon in the dial stone, with the afternoon lines emphasised (ARG in 1924 found it ‘much damaged by weather’)

St Mary . Preston Candover Old Church Dial BSS

DIAL 2

Dial 2 is eroded and in a poor state. Though larger than Dial 1, it is less visible, and ARG did not record it in his 1924 survey. It seems to have been cut on softer stone. Lichen makes it harder to read. The blocked gnomon hole is more or less in the centre of the dial stone. There are 7 definite lines leading from it, 2 angled into the upper half of the dial. It looks as if it might once have been encircled, but it is now hard to tell. BSS notes Crudely cut or made. Eroded. Trace of circle only. Partly hidden by rendering

NOTE In the churchyard is a sundial made up of a twelfth-century capital and base, both being set upside down HE

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

Credits: Tina Osgood, taken during a recent visit; header image Basingstoke Gazette

ROCKBOURNE . HANTS . ST ANDREW – Scratch Dial

Published on June 3, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST ANDREW . ROCKBOURNE . HANTS

GRADE I † C12 cruciform church enlarged C13 and thereafter. Small timber bell turret added C17. Victorian restoration 1893 (CE Ponting), with addition of porch. Set into an alarmingly steep hillside, with a considerable drop for the unwary. Approached by a now-rare permissive path through private property. Currently (2022) there are building works, with the W end under wraps. 10 miles S of Salisbury. 50.9642 / -1.8368 / SU115183

DIAL

St Andrew has one dial, prominently situated on the buttress of the S chapel and best seen from quite high up the slope. ARG visited in 1923, describing it as very distinct. C15.

ARG recorded 13 lines in a semicircle, each ending in a pock, with the angles (almost) equidistant. He noted that the lines are all in the lower half, but does not mention the interesting tilt of the dial, the purpose of which is unclear. Perhaps an adjustment of angle to allow for the slope (as it was in C15 when the dial was cut) and achieve greater accuracy? The large gnomon hole is blocked with a cement plug.

Looked at closely there is a 14th line also with a dot, fainter than the rest, on the upper right side, squeezed in between the clearer top two lines. There are 2 or 3 additional dots that form part of the circumference and possibly were at the end of fainter lines now eroded. Overall, a medieval dial that is less straightforward than it appears at first.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

STOCKBRIDGE NEW CHURCH . HANTS . ST PETER – Scratch Dials

Published on December 14, 2021December 15, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

STOCKBRIDGE NEW CHURCH . HANTS . ST PETER

GRADE II † Built 1860s in the centre of a pleasant, prosperous small town on the River Test. Fishing tackle emporia, smart gift shops, good restaurants and pubs, predominate. The flinty New Church replaced the crumbling C12 STOCKBRIDGE OLD CHURCH that had fallen into decay and disuse. Its fascinating remnants merit a visit. 51.1145 / -1.4934 / SU355351

DIALS

The excellent resource BRITAIN EXPRESS by David Ross gives a graphic account (below) of the move from the near-defunct medieval church on the edge of the town to the new-build glory in the High Street. Included in the upheaval was a scratch dial on a stone window jamb; and as I recently discovered while locating it, an unobtrusive second dial now on the side of a buttress.

Most of the 12th-century building was pulled down, leaving only the chancel, and a new church in Victorian Gothic style was built on Stockbridge High Street. Reports show that the townsfolk played an active part in transferring monuments, paintings, window frames, corbels, and other pieces of carved stonework from the old church to the new site. People brought their wheelbarrows and trundled down the High street carrying pieces of medieval masonry.

DIAL 1

Dial 1 is on RHS of the double lancet window at the W end of the church. It is inverted, as is often the case with a relocated dial. The window is high enough to be awkward to photograph with only a phone to hand. There are 12 (13?) visible lines, each ending in a pock. Traces of others might be found with closer inspection or a decent photo. The style hole is relatively large, and the lines radiating from it are more or less evenly spaced rather than graduated.

ARG visited Stockbridge in May 1922. He recorded there is a style hole with a line above, and on each side of this four radiating lines. He added it is too high for a photo or for measurement. Which may explain his lower count of radials.

*St Peter . Stockbridge . Hants – scratch dial 1 gallery*

DIAL 2

By complete chance, in walking away from Dial 1, I noticed a small but familiar design in the inside W face of a buttress L of the porch.

This simple dial is unusual in being a quadrant with a quarter-circle border, like a small fan. In relocation, it looks as if it was rotated 90º. It makes most sense that the close-cut double lines originally formed the noon-line and the others mark 3 and 6: an afternoon dial.