DEDICATION † St Mary. Mid C12 / earlier foundation; main development C15; C19 restoration
LISTING † Grade I
LOCATION † 8 miles NE. of Dorchester, 12 miles SE. of Yeovil, in the valley below the A37 racetrack. Hardy’s ‘Chalknewton’. More of a small town than a village, with a few shops, a garage and a station rather than (as elsewhere locally) a single shop and a halt. 50.7775 2.5727 SY597977
St Mary . Maiden Newton . Dorset . Scratch Dial on Chancel doorway
DIAL † On arch stone, E. side of chancel door. GLP dates as early C15, with a ‘rough arc of 5 holes across 2 stones’. I was at a loss to see how this dial could have worked with such a shallow arc and without a style hole. HoweverGLP points out that the arc’s approximate centre lies in a joint between 2 stones, so subsequent repointing presumably covered up the hole
St Mary . Maiden Newton . Dorset . Scratch Dial on Chancel doorway
NOTES † There is a fine sundial on S. face of tower, square slab with simple capping, iron gnomon and date 1630BHO. See OLD DIAL menu LINK
DEDICATION † ST MARGARET OF ANTIOCH – C12 origin, further building C13, later additions & restoration. The squat timber-framed bell-turret HE is C19.
LISTING † GRADE II*
LOCATION † Off the beaten track 5 miles NW. of Winchcombe, 7 miles E. of Tewksbury. One of several ‘dial’ hamlets or villages in the Parish of OverburyBHO LINK, reached by a network of rural lanes. The first sight of St Margaret and its bell-turret was an interesting surprise. 51.9906 / -2.0267 / SO982324
DIAL † W. jamb of the porch door, an encircled and seemingly random collection of pocks of different sizes and depths, some extending outside the circle including what must be the noon-line but marked several degrees to the left. An apparent style hole, mortared, is on roughly the right horizontal line, but way out of the natural vertical line. Very mysterious and impossible for an amateur to interpret. My tentative afterthought is that these anomalies were a way of adapting the dial and the shadow cast to adjust for the orientation of the church.
NOTES † At the time I visited, I was looking only for one dial based on the Glos. list compiled by TW, and this was obviously it. I didn’t anyway have time to investigate further. However, since then I have seen a clue that suggests another, possibly more complex dial. So I need to return one day to find it.
DEDICATION † ST MARTIN . Late C13 / early C14; tower C15. S. porch (dial location) C1500 HE, BLB
LISTING † GRADE I
A WONDERFUL CANONICAL DIAL IN DEEPEST DORSET
St Martin . Cheselbourne . Dorset . Scratch Dial
LOCATION † Seven miles NE. of Dorchester. Hidden in a dip in the remote folds of Dorset’s undulating downs, Cheselbourne (CeseburneDB) is accessible only by narrow lanes. It is well worthwhile if you can understand the signposts well enough to reach the village. 50.7954 / -2.3388 / SY762995
St Martin . Cheselbourne . Dorset . Scratch Dial
DIAL † A remarkable dial, ‘the most carefully cut and complete specimen of a medieval dial in Dorset’EEC.
On S. wall, scratch dial.’BLB – a scant note and considerable understatement. The 1631 sundial on the porch (see below) is better served
St Martin . Cheselbourne . Dorset . Scratch Dial gallery – left, central, right & complete
GLP dates this complex dial as late C15 / early C16, with 25 lines & 26 holes. ‘Each line ends in a hole, the vertical line being marked by 2 holes. The lines alternate in length, a long line running to the gnomon hole with a short line fitting in the angle between 2 of the long lines. The long lines accurately measure the hours; the short lines the half hours’.
Chancellor (ECC) noted crosses halfway along 2 lines, shown in his drawing of 1939. GLP could not trace these in 1996.
St Martin . Cheselbourne . Dial Drawing . Chancellor
St Martin . Cheselbourne . Dorset . Scratch Dial – S. Porch and obligatory drainpipe
NOTES † Above south porch arch, rectangular stone slab with Roman numerals, inscribed HC 1631 WM, with wrought iron gnomon (HE, BHO)LINK; also a fine C15 churchyard cross with limestone 3-step plinth and Ham stone treads RCHM
The dial is flush with the wall above the South porch. There is a flat strip gnomon with ‘S’ supporter. The gnomon angle is 56 degrees to wall. Face very weathered. Shows 6am to 6pm in half hours. Noon numeral or mark worn away as are many hour lines, IIII for 4pm. Few half hour marks visible. Inscription: “HC 1631 WM” (initials of the Church Wardens)
DEDICATION † ST MARY THE VIRGIN – C12 origins, mainly C15 perpendicular, later additions & restoration
LISTING † GRADE I
LOCATION † 4 miles SW. Sherborne, 3 miles SE. Yeovil. ‘Abbot’s Broad Ford’. A significant settlement from Roman times. Associated with Saxon King Athelstan. One of the larger villages in the area, attractive and with an inviting pub close to the church. 50.9265 / -2.5884 / ST587142
FEATURE † New dial recorded (see Dial 3)
St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Dorset . Scratch dials 1 & 2
DIALS † High on SW. buttress of porch, two scratch dials, one on top of the other. Well-documented. The top dial seems less sophisticated and more eroded, so perhaps is the oldest (AOW drew it as dial 1). Rather obtrusive vertical repairs to both. I found a 3rd dial high up on the tower, clearly relocated and inverted (see below). I have found no mention of it anywhere: a new find perhaps.
DIALS 1 & 2
St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Dorset . Scratch dials 1 & 2
The top dial. 13 radial, 7 dots. Deeper & longer 8-line. Style hole filled. AOW notes Square outline. Transitional
Lower dial. Semicircle, 11 radials, 10 dots. Style hole filled. Morning radial notably extend beyond the circle line.
St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Scratch Dials (Keith Salvesen)
DIAL 3
St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Scratch Dial 3 (unrecorded)St Mary the Virgin . Bradford Abbas . Scratch Dial 3 (unrecorded)
NOTES † Dials 1 & 2 recorded and drawn by AOW, mentioned BSS / GLP , BHO; Dial 3 unrecorded
DEDICATION † St Andrew – early c15 (Saxon foundation)
LISTING † Grade 2*
LOCATION † Between Sherborne and Dorchester 50.837330 / -2.484810 / ST 6591.0426
A flint and Ham stone church in a small hamlet near the head of the Cerne Valley. Dominated by Minterne House (rebuilt 1900) and its extensive gardens with specialist trees & plants. Good walking country with a Hardy feeling. Minterne Parva is 1/2 mile S.
DIAL † S. Nave, W. of 1st window. Eroded, 3 clear radials. Square style hole.
NOTES † Dial not mentioned in RCHM / BHO / BLB / HE – only refs found in BE & a Dorset Life article; no query dials; 6 (possibly 7) Consecration Crosses
GAUDIUM SUB SOLE: Scratch Dials & Sundials Medieval to Modern 