Medieval Dial – Page 11 – GAUDIUM SUB SOLE: Scratch Dials & Sundials Medieval to Modern

PODIMORE . SOM. ST PETER – Scratch Dial

Published on December 20, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST PETER . PODIMORE . SOMERSET

GRADE I. Early C14 on the site of an earlier ?C12 church. Unusual three octagonal stages on the square base of the tower. Porch of significance, with dial by inner door. Church situated close to the N. perimeter of RNAS Yeovilton. Historically spelled Podymore, sometimes adding Milton. 51.0219 / -2.6492 / ST545249

DIALS

St Peter has a fine dial on a quoin stone at E. end of the nave, an unusually complete and very satisfying symmetrical design. DEH records this dial (as does BSS), and also a second dial inside the porch (a feature of churches in the area) that is rather a puzzle.

DIAL 1

There is a full complement of 24 lines, each passing through a pock on its way to the perimeter. The line spacing is regular, each angle at 15º. The style hole is large relative to the careful proportions of the design. Overall the condition is good, the lower half more so than the upper. Some lines pass into (and perhaps beyond) the mortar joints, suggesting that a very strong and weather-resistant mix was used in medieval times (or extreme care taken with mortar repairs).

DEH visited in Oct 1914 and noted that the dial is elaborate and has lines and dots, and is also of unusual pattern. This dial is one of very few photographs included in his book. Note the spelling of the village in the caption. I wonder what kind of camera he took with him on his travels round Somerset?

211. (2) This dial is on a quoin at the s.e. corner of the nave. It is 4 feet 9 inches above the ground, the noonline is 4 1/2 inches in length, the stylehole is 3/4 of an inch deep by 3/4 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 15° e. Type 11.

DIAL 2

The dial inside the porch of St Peter is RHS of the door. BLB notes S porch, gabled, with outer 2-centre arch of 2 orders, the outer segmental, and inner plain pointed arch door and a possibly C16 door with old ironwork. The date of the original porch – restored 1871 – that covered the dial is unclear.

The dial, at latch level, is rustic and in poor condition. There are 2 clear lines, with the noon line cut deep at the top then scratched roughly a long way downwards before petering out. There’s no sign of a style hole where the lines meet, so the gnomon was presumably fixed in the mortar line just above. A partial / eroded line at the edge of the lower R quadrant could be consistent with Nones in the canonical Mass.

MYSTERY

A mystery arises from DEH‘s record for this ‘within-porch’ dial: He noted 210. (1) This dial is on the w. side of the inner door of the s. porch. It is 4 feet 6 inches above the floor, the noonline is 1 inch in length, the stylehole is in a joint and filled, and the aspect is s. by 20° e. Type 2. I found no dial in that position nor with that description. My tentative theory is that, very rarely, DEH’s notes of a day’s dialling are unclear; features of one church / dial appear to be ascribed to another nearby. Probably I should return to the area and check the churches for a dial as he describes.

St Peter . Podimore . Somerset – Scratch Dial 2 within porch

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.

St Peter . Stockbridge . Hants – scratch dial 2 rotated 90º

St Peter . Stockbridge . Hants – scratch dial 2 gallery

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

COMPTON PAUNCEFOOT . SOM . ST MARY – Scratch Dials

Published on December 10, 2021January 4, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

GRADE II* † C15 (C13 origins). Restored and N. aisle added C19. A handsome spired church, unusual in a region where most churches have towers, in the lovely setting of a small hamlet reached by a network of lanes. 51.0337 / -2.509 / ST644261

DIALS

St Mary is a most rewarding church to visit, both the exterior and interior. You will find brief points of note at Camelot Parishes. DEH on his visit in April 2014 recorded 2 medieval dials (2 & 3 below) but there are others, including a more elaborate later one with Roman numerals (C17?) above the porch.

DIAL 1

Compton Pauncefoot . Somerset . St Mary – scratch dial on the porch

Dial 1 A very visible 3-line dial on a large stone RHS of the porch. It consists simply of a small style hole with a long noon line and a single line the same length cut on each side. Despite its prominent location, the dial seems largely unremarked though perhaps it is mentioned in the church archives. The actual stone differs from the ones around it – perhaps it was relocated during restoration to a more prominent position on the porch. It is strange that DEH didn’t include this dial in his records for the church.

DIAL 2

Compton Pauncefoot . Somerset . St Mary – scratch dial on the E buttress of the nave

Dial 2 is located on the buttress at E end of the nave. It is close to being an ideal dial for study. The style hole is (nearly) centred on the stone. The noon line is not only emphasised, it extends upwards to ‘midnight’. There’s a distinct optical impression of a circle. The horizontal (6-to-6) line extends almost the full width of the stone. Other lines are unusually long, reaching beyond the notional circle. They are carefully graduated to optimise the accuracy of the dial. One mystery is the absence of the 4-line. I couldn’t find a trace of one. It seems unlikely that a single line has eroded completely; but a reason for omitting one line on an otherwise complete and indeed symmetrical dial is hard to think of.

DEH 177. (2) This dial is on the buttress at the s.e. corner of the nave. It is 4 feet 6 inches above the ground, the noon- line is 4 1/2 inches in length, the stylehole is 1 inch in depth by 3/4 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 20°e. Type 7. April 24th, 1914.

DIAL 3

Compton Pauncefoot . Somerset . St Mary – scratch dial beside the E buttress of the nave

Dial 3 is close to the same buttress, smaller, more rustic (earlier) and lower down. There are 9 certain lines and a couple of traces (one possibly above the 6 am horizontal). Their spacing is somewhat random. 4 lines end in pocks.

DEH 176. (1) This dial is on the wall w. of the buttress at s.e. corner of the nave. It is 2 feet 8 inches above the ground, the noonline is 4 1/2 inches in length, the stylehole is open, and the aspect is s. by 20° e. Type 3.

DIALS 4 a – d

Compton Pauncefoot . Somerset . St Mary – scratch dial(s)

Dial 4 This is in fact a dial / dial-related group on a single quoin stone, but treated as a dial unit for convenience. The overall design has 4 elements. There are 3 eroded (part) circles – two overlapping – with a small rough dial within the top circle. In this group of interlinked components, each is of a type often identified either as dials or as remnants of eroded dials. See eg CHURCH STRETTON Such a collection on a single stone perhaps suggests experimentation with dial-making. Or the (part-)circles may simply be decoration or (not unknown) doodles. Anyway, I decided to lump them together as one dial rather than to try to sort out the tangle. Any interpretations would be welcome.

DIAL 5

Compton Pauncefoot . Somerset . St Mary – scratch dial / C17 sundial

Dial 5 is a C17 later accurately incised dial on the fine porch above a cusped ogee-arched statue recess with foliated base BLB with its C19 statue of Virgin and Child. This dial is similar to several others in S. Somerset & W. Dorset (some are included under the heading OLD DIALS). The radials are contained within a rectangle, carefully incised and graduated. The noon line is more deeply cut, and leads down from the damaged area at the top of which is a filled style hole. Possibly the area of damage immediately below it indicates that a metal gnomon plate was later fixed there. The frame round the dial shows Roman numerals (IV as IIII) except for noon, which is marked by a cross (a conventional style).

GSS Category: Scratch Dial ; Old Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

PRESHUTE . WILTS . ST GEORGE – C18 sundial

Published on November 28, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

SUNDIAL . ST GEORGE . PRESHUTE

High up on the third stage of the C15 tower is a magnificent C18 sundial. A border of Roman serif numerals from 6am to 4pm frame a complex design of carefully graduated radials that mark the hours and the half hours. The large but slender gnomon casts a long shadow.

St George . Preshute . Wilts – the sundial on the tower

The imbalance in the hour marks – 6 to the left of the noon line, 4 to the right – presumably arises from the orientation of the church and its relation to the angle of the sun (though that’s probably not the correct technical way to express it).

NOTE there is a plausible medieval scratch dial on one buttress (not as yet recorded). It’s status is under consideration by others… If it is deemed a dial I will write it up separately.

GSS Category: Old Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

URCHFONT . WILTS . ST MICHAEL – Scratch Dials 5 – 8

Published on November 18, 2021December 2, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

URCHFONT . WILTS . ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS

GRADE 1. Late C13 / early C14 Decorated, C15 tower, restored 1864 & 1900. Set elegantly in a spacious and pleasant churchyard on the W. side of the Vale of Pewsey. Besides an excellent collection of dials, much else of interest – see BLB entry. 4m SE. of Devizes. 51.3148 / -1.9429 / SU040573

This is the second post about the 8 scratch dials of Urchfont. The first post for dials 1 – 4 can be found HERE. There is some duplication of general details so that this post can be read without cross-reference.

DIALS

DIALS 5 – 8

A fine ‘multi-dial’ church. There are 8 (possibly 9) dials in all. 6 of these dials are recorded in the BSS register. Dials 5 & 6 are close together on the edge of E. side of the transept. Dials 7 & 8 are low down on adjacent buttresses on the Chancel wall. They are somewhat concealed by chest tombs and easy to miss.

DIALS 5 & 6

*Urchfont . Wilts – St Michael & All Angels* – Scratch Dials 4 & 5

DIAL 5 has 10 distinct lines in additional to the horizontal in the mortar line, and a couple of ?line traces. The gnomon hole is within a larger filled area of (presumably) damage. An emphasised ?Mass line leads down to a crowed noon line area with a possible 1/2 hour radial. The dial seems truncated LHS and along the bottom edge, suggesting a relocation. However, RHS has 2 lines that sweep across into the adjacent stone, suggesting repair / restoration beside and below it.

DIAL 6 is a simple complete circle with a small style hole in the centre. Given that medieval dials marked the passage of the day and not ‘clock time’, this very basic type of dial may have been almost as helpful as later, more elaborate ones.

*Urchfont . Wilts – St Michael & All Angels – Scratch Dials 5 & 6*

DIAL 7

Dial 7 is located low on the middle S. facing Chancel buttress. A semicircle with a complete complement of lines around from the horizontal. Almost all end in pocks (2 in L. quadrant may be lost in the join with the adjacent stone). RHS is partly eroded from the faint noon line upwards. The symbol to the left may be a ritual protection / witch mark – too large for a mason’s mark.

DIAL 8

*Urchfont . Wilts – St Michael & All Angels – Scratch Dials*

Dial 8 is on the Chancel buttress E. of Dial 7, at the same low level. It is more rustic. Unusually, the dial, though quite small, was cut across 6 stones. Originally the circle was presumably complete, but damage top L and a relocated stone top R have removed the upper segment. The gnomon hole is notably off-centre. Perhaps odd that the dial wasn’t cut using the mortar line for the style hole and as the horizontal 6-to-6 line? Like Dial 7, a full complement of lines with pocks. There is a some graduation, but irregular.

*Urchfont . Wilts – St Michael & All Angels* – Scratch Dial 8

*Urchfont . Wilts – St Michael & All Angels – Scratch Dials* 7 & 8 and a plausible dial…

DIAL-ISH MARKS

The first is a deliberate pattern of pocks by a doorway – an obvious dial location – with a possible style hole in the mortar. There are similar short curved dot patterns elsewhere, eg Maiden Newton (Dorset). A plausible dial. The second dial is higher on the same buttress as Dial 8, a small hole with 2 apparently intentional lines just before and at noon. Doubtful, but I have seen rather less convincing patterns credited with dial status…

GSS Category: Scratch Dials

All photos: Keith Salvesen

PONTE VECCHIO . FLORENCE – ‘ UNEXPECTED TIMES’: A C14 SUNDIAL

Published on November 12, 2021December 19, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

‘ UNEXPECTED TIMES’: A SUNDIAL ON THE PONTE VECCHIO

This article was written a while back, in the pre-Covid era. Now I have a sundial site up and running, this dial and some others from Florence have a new space.

Florence in January. -8°C at night, zero during the day – but sunny enough in the middle of the day to be able to have coffee or even lunch outside. Apart from the Uffizi, no queues for anywhere. Most significant places on the tourist trail almost to oneself. Despite the cold, there is no frost: the air is so dry that the pavements, piazzas and even the cars are quite clear of frozen white crystals. By the river I caught the electric flash of a male kingfisher flying up from the water to an overhanging bush, his hunting perch. I watched him as he scanned the water below, occasionally diving down and returning to the same branch. Twice, I could see the glint of a tiny fish in his beak.

Over the years I don’t know how often I have crossed the Ponte Vecchio – or even simply walked to the mid-point to admire the views up and down river from the open areas between the pricey shops. This time I was walking the length of the Vasari corridor that connects the Palazzo Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno. A section runs straight over the bridge and then passes across the facade of Santa Felicita, into which the Medici family could sneak from the corridor to a large private balcony for spiritual refreshment. Passing the middle of the west side of the bridge, in the ‘tourist photo op’ gap where Cellini’s bust adds to the photogenic view, I have never before looked upwards.

Here, on the roof of a shop, is an ancient sundial, supported by a white marble pillar. An eroded and almost illegible engraving below the pillar records that in 1333, floods caused the bridge to collapse and that “twelve years later, as pleased the Commune, it was rebuilt with this ornamentation”. The sundial itself, with its columnar divisions reminiscent of a rose window, marks the CANONICAL HOURS. The gnomon’s shadow indicates the hour of the day. If the sundial is the ‘ornamentation’ to which the inscription refers, then it is around 650 years old.

If you look closely, you’ll see, halfway up the south face of the hexagonal column, a lizard

Seeing the sundial for the first time ever, yet in such a familiar place was a reminder that Florence is a city that demands great attention as one walks through the streets. Many buildings, even unassuming ones, have fine adornments high up that will catch the eye… but only if you are looking out for them.

URCHFONT . WILTS . ST MICHAEL – Scratch Dials 1 – 4 (of 8)

Published on November 6, 2021November 26, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

URCHFONT . WILTS . ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS

GRADE 1 † Late C13 / early C14 Decorated, C15 tower, restored 1864 & 1900. Set elegantly in a spacious and pleasant churchyard. Besides an excellent collection of dials, much else of interest – see BLB entry. 4m SE. of Devizes. 51.3148 / -1.9429 / SU040573

DIALS

This fine church in an attractive village on the W. edge of the Vale of Pewsey is well worth a visit, not least (in the context of this site) because it is a ‘multi-dial’ church. There are 8 (possibly 9) dials in all, mostly easy to spot and rewarding to examine in detail. 6 of these dials are recorded in the BSS register. I have split them into 2 groups. The first 4, featured here, are all on the S. transept.

DIALS 1 – 4

Dials 1 – 4 are all close to each other on the S. face of the transept. Dials 1 – 3 are cut into quoin stones on the W. edge of the transept, nearest the porch. Two are close to each other; the third is higher up (I was fortunate to spot it). All 3 dials are marked mainly in the lower L. quadrant. Dial 4 is a quite different type, within a circle. Located immediately W. of the large transept window.

DIALS 1 & 2

DIAL 1 has 3 distinct lines and a trace at (roughly) 07. 11 is faintly extended. A partial (semi?) circle encloses the lines and the sector continues past the slightly offset noon line. There are 4 pocks that are part of the design, one a terminal dot. The shape of the style hole is (now) square, suggesting a later replacement (cf Glanvilles Wootton, which still has its square gnomon).

DIAL 2 has a large style hole drilled between the 2 stones that form the horizontal. There are 3 clear lines – the noon line extended – and possibly a couple of faint / eroded lines. Small pocks on the edge are dwarfed by a huge ‘mid-morning’ hole that was perhaps added later – or was a forthright call to Mass.

DIAL 3

The third dial on the same quoin is much higher, and easy to miss. A large style hole with 3 clear-cut lines, the middle one extended and with a pock at the end. There’s a fainter line R. of the (slightly offset) noon line. Presumably, although the quoin as a whole seems uniform, the stone was relocated to its elevated position.

DIAL 4

This is a pretty dial enclosed by a complete outer circle. The dial markings are enclosed within a very faint inner circle. There are 5 clear lines and traces of 3 or 4 others. There is no clear noon line, and overall the positions of the radials seem rather unusual.

Image 1 in the gallery below includes dials 1 -3 on their respective quoin stones, alongside dial 4.

GSS Category: Scratch Dials

All photos: Keith Salvesen

HOUGHTON . HANTS . ALL SAINTS – 2 Scratch Dials

Published on October 12, 2021November 26, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ALL SAINTS . HOUGHTON . HANTS

GRADE II* † Early C12 origins, C13 aisles, C14 chancel, C15 alterations, 1875 and 1882 restorations BLB. One of several attractive villages on or close to the River Test. Houghton is midway between Stockbridge (N) and Romsey (S). Exploring locally – especially Mottisfont – is well worthwhile (nice pubs as well). 51.0922 / -1.5139 / SU341326

DIAL 1

The dial is located on a quoin stone on the nave E. of the porch and ‘crudely cut’ BSS. There are 17 lines in all, some very eroded; and 3 pocks that are probably unrelated. The gnomon is of particular interest. For obvious reasons, discoveries of plausible remains of a gnomon are very scarce. BSS records (1994) that the stub of one was noted, the hole being otherwise filled. I did not notice the hint of a stub, and the photos suggest an intact mortar filling with a neatly rounded pock in the centre.

DIAL 2

The dial is located low down on the SE. corner of the chancel. 4 lines, with the hole in the horizontal mortar line and filled. BSS records (1996) the dial as originally complete but with the right half replaced by another stone. The fact of a new quoin stone seems certain. The intriguing questions are what the dial might have looked like when complete; and whether the other half was used elsewhere on the exterior during any of the later additions and restorations.

I checked dial 1 on a fleeting evening visit, and didn’t look for another. The BSS image below suggests that the upper L quadrant, the horizontal mortar line where the lines converge, and the hole at the intersection might be worth investigating when I am next passing.

All Saints . Houghton . Hants – Scratch Dial 2

GSS Category – Scratch Dial

All photos Keith Salvesen except Dial 2, BSS records

KNIGHTON . POWYS . ST EDWARD – Scratch Dial (?)

Published on October 7, 2021November 26, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

KNIGHTON . POWYS . ST EDWARD

GRADE II † ‘Victorian Gothic rebuilding of earlier church of which the medieval west tower is the only survival- no remains of 1752 Georgian rebuild‘ BLB. A handsome reconstructed church in a pleasant town, well-situated on Offa’s Dyke close to the point where Powys meets Hereford and Shropshire. The only church dedication to St Edward in Wales – he, along with St Richard, seem to be somewhat overlooked across much of Britain. 52.3457 / -3.0477 / SO287724

DIAL?

The double rebuilding of a medieval church (except for its tower) must inevitably have expunged almost all traces of the early building, and with that its church marks. Or so you would think. Yet when I visited the church on a warm September evening in sunshine, I saw what – on a church with a different history – might be taken as a medieval pock dial. I realise that it is most unlikely. However, restoration and rebuilding does not preclude the reuse and / or relocation of stones from the original church. It was a common practice, for obvious reasons.

There is no visible style hole. The curved pocked pattern seems intentional but – absent some architectural or decorative purpose – it is difficult to account for the design. Given the church history, claiming dial status is debatable. However I have seen far less convincing dials elsewhere. The stone fits with the church. Its location on the porch wall – perhaps intentionally during reconstruction – is appropriate. But probably I have an amateur dial collector’s over-optimism. Maybe this sort of find shows how intriguing the analysis of church marks can be.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

Photos: Keith Salvesen

PEWSEY . WILTS . ST JOHN THE BAPTIST – Scratch Dials

Published on October 4, 2021November 26, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

PEWSEY . WILTS . ST JOHN THE BAPTIST

GRADE I † Saxon origins. C11 Norman and later development inc. C12 nave, C13 aisles, C16 tower, C18 expansion, C19 restorations. An interesting church, with C12 Norman limestone font with suspended cover; and wonderful early C17 clock. Enjoy the Kennet & Avon canal while you are there. 51.3379 / -1.7664 / SU163598

DIAL

The dial is on S. side of the chancel, on the E. quoin stone of E. end buttress. The appearance is of a classic 6-to-6 dial (not within a semicircle) on a lovely colourful stone. 11 clear lines (the 9 line is not visible – erosion? Omission of the Terce line seems unlikely). The longer 11 line extends to the mortar line below. 3 lines are emphasised inc. noon line. There are several pocks, a few at the end of lines – those at the ends of the horizontal must almost certainly part of the dial.

I wrote ‘appearance’ above, because looking closely at the photos, the dial is in fact slightly less straightforward. There are 2 faint lines and the hint of another in the upper right quadrant (see large image below).

St John the Baptist . Pewsey . Wilts – Scratch Dial

DIAL 2? (unrecorded)

In several places on the outside walls there are groups of church marks and graffiti – initials, dates, apotropaic (witch) marks / Marian symbols. While photographing these I noticed a very small rustic dial scratched in the angle of wall and buttress on the S. side. I might have ignored it or classified it as ‘doubtful’, but the crude cuts in the stone running from the putative style hole suggest a casual dial attempt – possibly a trial run, and / or a contribution to the gallery of marks in this area.