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

ART NOUVEAU SUNDIAL by FRANCIS BARKER with LIBERTY PEDESTAL

Published on June 12, 2024June 13, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

FRANCIS BARKER DIAL with LIBERTY ART NOUVEAU PEDESTAL

This is a gnomon-less sundial that I dug out of a pigsty at my home. I was about 10. The sty had layers of compacted earth and garden material that almost reached the top, the legacy of the previous owners. I had always wondered whether there might be hidden treasure, and eventually my curiosity got the better of me.

I gradually dug down until, suddenly, my spade hit something with a loud clonk. It took a while but eventually I was able to prise out… a prize. It has lived on as a garden ornament / flower pedestal for many years, with 4 changes of address. Eventually it has settled in Dorset.

Later – by then a BSS member – I sought advice about my dial. In due course Sue Manston included the dial in an detailed article by Jo Elsworth in the BSS Bulletin 118. Volume 33(ii) – June 2021

The author Jo Elsworth notes that similar dials have been described as ‘Antique’ and Art Deco. For the reasons she gives, the classification as Art Nouveau is the most approriate,

Also in the garden: a modern armillary sphere, watched over by Father Time

GSS Category: Horizontal Dial; Barker Sundial Plate; Liberty Sundial Pedestal; Art Nouveau Sundial.

All photos: Keith Salvesen; BSS article – Sue Manston, with thanks

TIMSBURY . HANTS . ST ANDREW – Horizontal Pedestal Sundial

Published on March 28, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

TIMSBURY . HANTS . ST ANDREW

St Andrew is a fine church, and fully lives up to the interest its appearance suggests. Before looking closely at and inside the church for dials and apotropaic marks, I walked over to the sundial in the churchyard.

It proved to be a simple and quite elegant Memorial sundial for Janet Knox Zorab who lived to be nearly 100.

The dial plate and gnomon are conventional. The rustic feel to the churchyard and the closeness to a rather special church provide a peaceful setting for a memorial.

GSS Category: Horizontal Sundial; Pedestal Sundial; Memorial Sundial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

ROOKERY GARDENS . STREATHAM . LONDON – Horizontal Dial

Published on January 22, 2024January 23, 2024 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ROOKERY GARDENS . STREATHAM . LONDON

The day after Storm Isha wreaked havoc in various areas of the British Isles, there was a brief moment of sunshine during our short visit to London. We walked to the Rookery Gardens in Streatham, part of the estate of a large house that was demolished in 1912. The horizontal pedestal dial was immediately in front of us, demanding inspection. A very pleasing commemorative dial at the source of the western branch of the River Falcon, one of London’s many so-called Lost Rivers.