Medieval Dial – Page 10 – GAUDIUM SUB SOLE: Scratch Dials & Sundials Medieval to Modern

BROAD HINTON . WILTS . ST PETER AD VINCULA – Scratch Dial & Porch Sundial

Published on March 18, 2022March 19, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

St Peter ad Vincula . Broad Hinton . Wilts

ST PETER AD VINCULA . BROAD HINTON . WILTS

GRADE 1 † C13 origins (possibly back to Saxon); developed C15, C17; late Victorian restoration. Use of local sarsen stone. Hammerbeam roof. Merits a long entry in PEV, especially for the monuments. 5m N of Avebury, 7m NW of Marlborough 51.4858 / -1.8497 / SU105763

DIALS

St Peter has 2 dials in very different styles, and a couple of ‘not-a-dial’s. There is also a modern-ish sundial on the porch, probably from the late C19 restoration, with a rather gloomy motto that fits in with Victorian mores.

DIAL 1

Dial 1 is a fairly large and pleasingly simple dial on L side of a window jamb. 4 lines drop down from the style hole into the lower L quadrant, bounded by a sector of a circle. It looks rather uncomfortable. The puzzle is whether this was the original location (in which case it seems too large for the available space); or whether it is a relocation.

DIAL 2

Dial 2 is an encircled dial, the lower half eroded. There is a shallow style hole and various pocks, not all necessarily relevant to dial functions. The significant ones are on the L side, with 3 pocks in a row between the style hole and the perimeter. Below them are less organised pocks. The dial would make more sense if rotated 90º, with the horizontal line becoming the noon line and the less defined line perhaps marking a Mass time (None?). This suggests that the stone was relocated, and certainly the size and colour of the stones around it vary significantly (image 1 below).

Promising but on closer inspection unlikely dials

OUR DAYS ON THE EARTH ARE AS A SHADOW

The C17 porch was restored C19 and then (or later?) this dial was added over the door, with its discouraging message (no hint of the ‘sunny hours’ etc found elsewhere). The dial is slightly angled to face due S for greater accuracy.

*St Peter ad Vincula . Broad Hinton . Wilts – angled sundial above S porch*

NOTES: Various types of external graffiti – scratchings, initials, Marian marks etc; on the WILTSHIRE HISTORIC CHURCHES TRAIL

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; New Dial; Medieval Graffiti; Marian marks

All photos: Keith Salvesen

HAZELBURY BRYAN . DORSET . ST MARY & ST JAMES – Scratch Dial, Marian Marks

Published on March 10, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

St Mary & St James . Hazelbury Bryan . Dorset

ST MARY & ST JAMES . HAZEBURY BRYAN . DORSET

GRADE I † Mainly C15, chancel rebuilt 1827, general restoration 1895 and early C20. A fine Church some way out of the centre of the village (as with several other churches in the area, eg Pulham, Lydlinch). Nave and N aisle have C15 wagon roofs. Graffiti & witch marks in the porch. SW of Sturminster Newton. 50.8736 / -2.352 / ST753082

DIAL

A small simple dial within a complete circle on the face of the SW buttress of the tower. There are 4 lines that extend slightly beyond the circumference and one quite large pock in lower R quadrant. GLP notes that the lines, with the pock, divide the day into quarters marking the canonical hours of tierce, sext & none.

St Mary & St James . Hazelbury Bryan . Dorset – Scratch Dial

GLP also noted a ‘doubtful dial’ on the NW face of the buttress: an eroded circle with a shallow central hole. This is nearest candidate I could find in that location, one I would never have noticed without a prompt. I share the doubt despite my usual optimistic amateur instincts.

St Mary & St James . Hazelbury Bryan . Dorset – doubtful dial?

MARIAN MARK IN THE PORCH

The porch is worth checking for graffiti and other church marks like the emphatic Marian mark below boldly repelling evil.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

CHIDEOCK . DORSET . ST GILES – Scratch Dial

Published on March 8, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST GILES . CHIDEOCK . DORSET

GRADE 1 † C14, C15, with earlier references (1240). 1880 restoration by Crickmay, described variously as ‘major’ and less politely, ‘drastic’. 3m W of Bridport. Best visited outside the summer holiday season… 50.7325 / -2.8211 / SY421928

DIAL

The dial is on W side of S porch, and rather intriguing. GLP dates it to C15. A large dial spread across most of a quoin stone, with an anachronistic addition. BSS: this may possibly be a scratch dial which has been ‘converted’ by the addition of an ornate but modern shelf bracket which effectively adds a horizontal gnomon.

The dial itself has [had] its gnomon in the mortar line, which also acts as the horizontal. There are 22 lines of varying sizes of length, width and depth (a jumble BSS). The early morning Mass must have been the most significant, to judge from the heavily emphasised radial. GLP suggests that some of the many lines may show corrections / adjustments over the years.

Presumably there was originally a straightforward rod gnomon. Maybe it became detached and was replaced by this different design that involved mooring the lower end of the bracket in the noon line. GLP dates the bracket as C18.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen except header image, ‘Dorset Churches’

WOOTTON RIVERS . WILTS . ST ANDREW – Five Scratch Dials

Published on February 28, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST ANDREW. WOTTON RIVERS . WILTS

GRADE II* † C14 with major C19 restoration by G E Street. Attractive village church with a shingled spire (slightly aslant). Situated by the Kennet and Avon canal. Home to the amazing JACK SPRATT’S CLOCK 51.3653 / -1.7187 / SU196629

DIALS

St Andrew has 5 dials (BSS records 2; HE 1) and a couple of doubtfuls. All are on the S side. The porch has graffiti – initials, dates etc – and apotropaic symbols / ritual protection marks.

DIAL 1

Dial 1 is on a quoin stone at the E end of S side. A small but easily visible dial with a large style hole for its size (doubtless enlarged at some time). The noon line is strongest cut, with 3, possibly 4, other lines. The None (9th hour) line is longest, possibly to indicate the most important Mass time of the day. A simple dial with a simple purpose. The 2 ‘tadpole’ marks bottom left could be witch marks to protect the church. There are others in the porch area.

DIAL 2

Dial 2 is relatively complex and later than dial 1. A semicircle design with the lines mostly positively cut evenly at 15º angles, though there is erosion in the lower R quadrant. There are also quite large pocks, mostly between the ends of 2 lines which is, I think, unusual. The style hole, as with Dial 1, is large.

DIAL 3

Dial 3 is a simple little dial consisting of three significant lines terminating in pocks, and an ‘afternoon’ pock. The sketchy marks above this suggest an extended line ending in a pock and, as with Dial 1, roughly corresponding to None, perhaps confirming the most significant service time for the church, ie early evening Mass.

DIAL 4

Dial 4 is on the E side of the porch. Very eroded, with the style hole drawing attention to a small encircled dial with 3 clearish lines – horizontal and 2 curving below it. Indistinct traces of a couple of other lines.

DIAL 5

Dial 5 is on the W side of the porch. Larger than dial 4 and also considerably eroded. 10 lines or so, and a confusion of pocks, especially around the (presumed) shallow style hole. There are hints of at least a semicircle in the lower half and the trace (illusion?) of a complete circle or even a double one.

GRAFFITI and APOTROPAIC (WITCH) MARKS

*St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts* *– Graffiti and Witch Marks*

GSS Category: Scratch Dials

All photos: Keith Salvesen; Jack Spratt’s Clock link – VisitPewseyVale

ALTON PRIORS . WILTS . ALL SAINTS – VAST SCRATCH DIAL (?)

Published on February 25, 2022February 28, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ALL SAINTS . ALTON PRIORS

GRADE II* † C12 origins, alterations and development C14 / C15; rebuilding C18. Little remains of the Norman building. Yew tree in churchyard reputedly 1700 years old. Sarsen stone(s) beneath the church accessed by trapdoor.

All Saints Church, surrounded by fields below the southern escarpment of the Marlborough Downs, is in the care of the CHURCHES CONSERVATION TRUST It is of particular interest for examining the slow transition of medieval scratch dials from rustic to cultivated. This article primarily features the massive sundial on the south face of the tower, but there’s much that could be written about the wonderful graffiti adorning the external walls – witch marks, dates, initials and so on. The wear and tear of history includes holes in the lower part of the tower wall from musket shots. There’s a great deal to explore and admire both outside and inside this most rewarding building. Then walk the paved priest’s path across the fields to the Saxon church of St Mary a few hundred yards away (there are 2 dials to look for). 51.358 / -1.8446 / SU10962

DIAL

The dial that dominates the upper stage of the tower is almost invariably described as a scratch dial. However, it is difficult to categorise it thus when the scale of it is so colossal by comparison to the small dials cut on porches, buttresses etc, and only rarely above head height . All the traditional scratch dials of Wiltshire could very likely be contained within the semicircle that nearly spans the width of the tower.

However one chooses to describe the dial, it is clearly a sophisticated and ambitious design. Early scratch dials do not have numerals, generally just a style hole with lines, pocks or both, and often crude and rather random. Gradually they became more complex and cut more accurately, in a few later examples with the addition of Roman numerals. Very few scratch dials have Arabic numerals. There’s a most intriguing one at MONTACUTE Somerset, where the dial has a mix of Roman and Arabic numerals. One could argue a true scratch dial had a single rod in a hole to cast the shadow, and that a dial requiring a more elaborate iron gnomon attached to the face takes it out of the category of scratch dial. This dial was clearly designed for such an arrangement. In that way it differs from eg Litlington and ALFRISTON (E Sussex) where iron gnomons were added onto the face of an existing scratch dial.

St Catherine . Montacute – Scratch Dial / Sundial

The All Saints dial is advanced in a number of ways. The size itself and its height must have required considerable skills and inventiveness to reach, measure, design and execute. The radials are very carefully graduated down to and up from the noon line. The cutting of the dial is remarkably precise. The inclusion of half-hour markers and in particular the use of Arabic numerals add a further dimension. This combination of factors suggests a dial that is later than the generally agreed end of the true scratch dial era, around 1600. The date of the tower is described in the CCT material as fifteenth century*, and a Triennial Inspection Report (2004) notes that the inscribed sundial is still legible. I have not found any early reference to this dial. So overall I will go with the description sundial rather than scratch dial.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Old Dial; Unclassified

All Photos: Keith Salvesen; *thanks to CCT for information about the church

Damage from Musket Shot, All Saints Alton Pancras

WEST CAMEL . SOM . ALL SAINTS – Scratch Dials

Published on February 20, 2022February 21, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

DEDICATION † ALL SAINTS. Late C14 with much earlier Saxon fragments; C15 features and alterations; C19 restoration; recent internal renovation. A pretty country church and path approach. Battlement and stubby spire on the tower.

LISTING † Grade 1

LOCATION † Just W of RNAS Yeovilton and S of the A303. 51.0195 / -2.5998 / ST580246

DIALS † DEH visited All Saints in May 1915, and recorded 2 dials, one which he found inside the porch. An uncommon find, and shared with other churches in the area. There are 5 dials in all.

DIALS 1 – 3

Dials 1 – 3 are on separate quoin stones of the tower E of the S porch. The eye-catcher is unmissable at the top, with a large style hole that has been considerably enlarged over the centuries. On the stones below are 2 more rustic dials that a very similar.

All Saints. West Camel . Som – scratch dial 1

All Saints. West Camel . Som – scratch dial 1 (π Erika Clarkson)

Dial 1 is a good example of a small line and pock dial. There are 13 lines with pocks (2 are eroded) and there is a double pock in the upper R quadrant on the bottom edge with (possibly) the stub of a line. There are hints of other lines and just possibly a faint shadow of near-erased circle. The deeper cut lines and pocks may indicate the most significant time of day for Mass, in this case between 9 (Terce) and noon (Sext). DEH describes it as a compact and rather curious little dial.

DEH 191. (2) This dial is on the s.w. corner of the tower. It is 5 feet 7 inches above the ground, the noonline is 2 1/2 inches in length, the stylehole is 1 1/4 inches deep, and the aspect is due s. Type 11, combining 3.

All Saints. West Camel . Som – scratch dial 2

Dial 2 is on the stone below. The style was presumably in the mortar line. There are 4 lines (Terce to Sext) ending in pocks. There are further pocks in the lower L quadrant, the top one corresponding with None. A true – if sketchy – Mass dial. The large hole beneath does not seem dial-related.

All Saints. West Camel . Som – scratch dial 3

Dial 3 has a very similar form, with 5 lines (2 very faint) emerging from the mortar line. It seems strange to have 2 dials so alike and so close. From the look of them, the upper dial would have been an improvements on the lower one.

It is hard to know what to make of the 4 pocks in a neat row on the R side. Possibly they belong with the hole above them. Conceivably the configuration could have worked as a crude or experimental dial but it can’t be rated higher than ‘doubtful’.

DIALS 4 & 5

Both dials are inside the porch on L side the original doorway. The present porch was added in 1866, replacing an earlier porch of unknown date. Such ‘inside’ dials are not unusual, but this particular area has several quite close together, eg BLACKFORD, LIMINGTON, WESTON BAMPFYLDE Note the traces of whitewash on and around both dials.

All Saints. West Camel . Som – scratch dial 4

Dial 4 has 4 distinct lines and traces in lower R quadrant. 3 of the clear radials extend to the mortar line below. It looks as though all the lines were originally roughly the same length, with 3 later crudely elongated (2 have bends).

DEH: 190. (1) This dial is on the w. side of the inner door of the s. porch. It is 4 feet 10 inches above the floor, the noonline is 4 inches in length, the stylehole is 1 1/2 inches deep by 3/4 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 10° e. Type 3.

All Saints. West Camel . Som – scratch dial 5

Dial 5 is above Dial 4, and much simpler. 4 lines descend from the mortar line, one extended. The upper R one ends in a pock. The 2 pocks on the bottom edge probably emphasise noon. The large hole doesn’t seem to be part of the design.

Dials 4 & 5 close-up

*All Saints. West Camel . Som – scratch dials 4 & 5*

NOTE: fragment of a C9 Saxon cross-shaft with cable-roll interlaced decoration on 2 faces, discovered above nave East wall foundations in 1866.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial, Mass Dial

CREDITS: many thanks to Erika Clarkson who sent me the excellent close-up photo of Dial 1 and prompted my visit to All Saints and several other churches churches in the neighbourhood; All other photos Keith Salvesen

TODBER . DORSET . DEDICATION UNKNOWN – Scratch Dial

Published on January 25, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

TODBER CHURCH . DORSET

GRADE II † C15 origins, substantially rebuilt 1879. Surprisingly for a church in a village recorded in DB (Todeberie) 1086, no Dedication. Midway between Shaftsbury & Sturminster Newton. 50.9795 / -2.2865 / ST799200

DIAL

The dial of this unusual-looking small church is on the S wall of the chancel, R of the window. The dial is very eroded. There are 6 visible / detectable lines, the noon line longer than the rest. The gnomon hole is filled, and there is a patch of cement on the noon line that BSS / GLP suggest may be a filled pock.

The large block of stone was obviously relocated to the side of the window during (or before?) C19 rebuilding: it stands out from the smaller brick-like stones that form the wall. GLP comments it looks as if the dial was recognised as something interesting, and preserved accordingly.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen; diagram, BSS

MAPPOWDER . DORSET . ST PETER & ST PAUL – Scratch Dial

Published on January 20, 2022January 20, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

MAPPOWDER . DORSET . ST PETER & ST PAUL

GRADE 1 † C14 origins, mainly C15 expansion; customary C19 work. A surprisingly large church for a small community hidden away in deepest (though not darkest) Dorset. Approached by lanes. The unusual name may derive from OE word ‘mapluldor’ (maple tree); shown as ‘Mapledre’ in DB*. 50.8528 / -2.3773 / ST735059

DIAL

Located on the S wall near E window, a small single dial with 10 lines radiating from a fairly large style hole. C15. Of particular interest is that, most unusually, 2 of the lines meet at their outer ends (GLP) or even cross (BSS). The angled shot shows it best – and see diagram below. GLP suggests this arrangement roughly coincides with the Mass time Terce (9h) and may emphasise it, as a pock or a deeper cut radial might.

Mappowder . Dorset . St Peter & St Paul – Scratch Dial

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

*OPC entry

All photos: Keith Salvesen; Diagrams BSS

QUEEN CAMEL . SOMERSET . ST BARNABAS – Scratch Dial(s)

Published on January 10, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

GRADE I . C14 (first record 1291); C15 expansion; late C19 work. See HE for details of this interesting church, with its fine portico. A few miles N. of Sherborne or Yeovil. 51.0225 / -2.5754 / ST597249

DIALS

DIAL 1

The medieval dial is easily found on S wall of the chancel, on the buttress E of the priest’s door. The approximate semicircle embraces an almost compete set of 6-to-6 lines. There are several pocks, large and small. BSS notes include: 1. Worn. Repositioned. Octaval, Tides. 2. Dial (Norman?) with tides, with duodecimal, sometimes both. 3. Mason-cut or roughly scratched. 4. Tide dial, roman numerals, extra line at 7. I have to say (as an amateur) that I can’t match all these features to this dial or either of them if both are being described together (see below).

The dial is large, almost the full width of the buttress. Unusually, it is cut over 4 stones. Note the low pock some way directly below the noon line. Most of the dial is cut on the Hamstone E quoin, the lower rim extending onto the 2 stones below. These stones match those around them. However the L side of the dial is cut on grey stone not matched elsewhere nearby.

I was puzzled by the suggested repositioning of the (entire) dial. An alternative theory might be that the dial was positioned where it is now. Over time, the L side became eroded or damaged and was replaced with a different kind of stone (perhaps being used for repairs elsewhere on the church). The new stone was then cut to match the design of the original. Looked at closely, the ‘new’ L side design does not in fact match the rest accurately. Not all lines follow exactly; there are no pocks; the incisions are clearer. Does this support a later replacement (and possibly harder) stone?

DEH visited in May 1914 and recorded 182. (2) This dial is on the first buttress to the e. of the priest’s door. It is 5 feet 9 inches above the ground, the noonline is 5 1/2 inches in length, the stylehole is 1 1/8 inches in depth by 3/4 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 10° e. Type 5c. May 18th, 1915.

DIAL 2

Dial 2 also creates some confusion, not least its location. BSS does not record this dial as a separate entry from Dial 1 but may be referring to it especially in the note 4. Tide dial, roman numerals. Dial 1 does not have visible roman numerals but Dial 2 does.

This dial is located high up above the portico, below the parapet of the nave seen as clerestory with parapet BLB. It is quite damaged, with a modern gnomon and a flaking layer of blue paint that makes it stand out (see header image). It’s hard to date the dial. Similar dated dials in the region are quite often early C18 or even C17. The dial is conventional of its kind, carefully graduated. The numerals are set in a frame, and italicised each side of the noon line.

DEH’s description of his second St Barnabas dial is another puzzle:

181. (1) This dial is on the s.e. buttress of the s. aisle. It is 6 feet 7 1/2 inches above the ground, the noonline is 5 inches in length, the stylehole is invisible, and the aspect is s. by 10° e. The dial is curious, as it has the lines arranged much as they are in an ordinary sundial, with Roman numerals cut at the ends. There may have been a slit for a gnomon, now carefully cemented up. Probably this should not rank as a Scratch dial.

There is a significant problem. The location DEH gives for it, six feet up on a buttress, is totally different from this now blue dial, yet his description broadly matches it and his comment that it probably should not rank as a Scratch dial is clearly apposite. I may have missed a second buttress scratch dial, even though I have been back to check. Or else perhaps DEH made a simple error in compiling his notes of several churches visited at one time in one area (I have come across a couple of similar instances). So this dial, now blue, is the one he meant but mis-located.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Old Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

EAST CHINNOCK . SOM . ST MARY – 2 Scratch Dials (1 unrecorded)

Published on January 5, 2022January 7, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

East Chinnock . Somerset . St Mary. Scratch Dials — East Chinnock . Somerset . St Mary

EAST CHINNOCK . SOM . ST MARY

GRADE II † C14 origins on earlier site; mostly C15 and later C19 work. South porch very simple, possibly C14 BLB. Cinnuc in Saxon times. 4 miles W of Yeovil, attractively set on the steep hillside at the E end of the village though right beside the A30. 50.9164 / -2.7145 / ST498132

DIALS

St Mary has 2 dials. Both are on the S porch, one of the earliest parts of the church. One was recorded by DEH on his visit in June 1915. The other is a new find I believe.

DIAL 1

The dial is halfway up the L side of the porch immediately above a gravestone. It comprises pocks with a large style hole. The pattern is haphazard and the dial might actually make more sense if rotated 90º L, producing a double pock noon line.

DEH 196. This dial is on the w. side of the s. porch, at a height of 4 feet 8 inches above the ground. The noonline is 2 1/4 inches in length, the stylehole is 7/8 of an inch by 1/2 an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 30° e. Type 10. June 15th, 1915.

*East Chinnock . Somerset . St Mary – Scratch Dial*

DIAL 2

Dial 2 is located quite high on the E face of the S porch, a simple 4-line fan dial. The position makes no sense for a sundial, and it was plainly relocated at some stage. In the process, as is often the way, it was inverted. This re-siting with a rotation of the stone retains the decorative feature even though no longer a reliable time indicator. This is the sort of find that reminds me always to search beyond the normal dial locations of porch, buttress and priest’s door.