Tag: Medieval Dial

KINGSBURY EPISCOPI . SOM . ST MARTIN (2) – SCRATCH DIAL

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ST MARTIN . KINGSBURY EPISCOPI . SOM

GRADE I ♱ C14, C15; C19 restoration. Mainly Perpendicular, with a very impressive 3-stage tower. C14 font. Splendid gargoyles. Very close to MUCHELNEY ABBEY. 9m NW of Yeovil 50.9865 / -2.8042 / ST436210

NOTE This post supplements a previous post written last year HERE. There was poor light with inadequate details of the dial, now remedied in sunlight. The text is much the same.

DIAL

The dial is cut on the W buttress, S side of the tower on a large stone that is the width of the buttress. DEH visited in Sept 2012 – this was one of his early churches, perhaps because of its proximity to Downside Abbey. He describes a large, deep style hole. He counted a full complement of 24 lines: a complete wheel of thin lines without a circle. Nearly 100 years later, the design is not as clear-cut.

DEH also noted that the dial stone may have been moved during restoration of the tower, which might account for its height on the buttress (8 ft).

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

MUCHELNEY ABBEY . SOMERSET . Scratch Dial (Rare Example)

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MUCHELNEY ABBEY . SOMERSET

GRADE I ✠  C7 origins with a long and fascinating history amply covered by many sources. The Wiki entry gives a good brief account. Now only the Abbot’s House and the Lavatorium remain intact. The ruined foundations are all that can be seen of the Abbey buildings and layout.

The Abbot’s House has a number of apotropaic marks including hexfoils and taper burns, noted on the relevant pages here.

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DIAL

We visited the Abbey knowing approximately what to expect from the Abbot’s House. It is well worth exploring, and there are helpful EH volunteers on hand to give information.

We eventually reached the West Kitchen, which has a door to the S side of the building. It was a great surprise to find a simple and eroded scratch dial between the doorway and the East Kitchen window. It is quite rare to find a scratch dial on a building other than a church. Non-secular dials can occasionally be found on medieval barns. Perhaps the Abbot’s dial was originally part of the original abbey building, and re-sited. I’d prefer to think that a factotum had cut the dial specially for an Abbott so that he could keep track of the important times of the monastic day for which he was responsible.

This is not an easy dial to analyse. Certainly there is a horizontal line ( 6-to-6) that runs through the gnomon hole (very faint RHS). There is a deeper cut noon line that seems to extend above the hole to the mortar line.

As often, a b&w image can assist with finer details. There is a faint 9-line, suggesting that Terce was the primary time for observance. Possibly a further line at 11? No relevant markings LRQ.  Possibly there is a line ULQ just above the horizontal.

It is clear that EH and the guides know about the dial, but I have been unable to find a reference to it elsewhere. Probably a local research group will have recorded it, but otherwise it seems that this unusual dial (for location) is very little known

MUCHELNEY ABBEY . SOUTH FRONT

Muchelney Abbey – Abbot’s House S side showing W kitchen door . Photo by DeFacto OS CC

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

SYMONDSBURY . DORSET . ST JOHN – Scratch Dial

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ST JOHN . SYMONDSBURY . DORSET

GRADE I ❖ C14, rebuilt from earlier church (BHO); C15 S porch, C17 chancel rebuilt. Wagon-type nave roof. Gargoyles. An attractive and well-kept church. Also recommended: visit the Symondsbury Estate complex. 2m W of Bridport. 50.7396 / -2.7879 /  SY445936


DIAL

The dial is on E. jamb of the porch entrance. The gnomon hole is in the mortar line, from which 10 lines radiate in a semi-circle. The noon line is terminates in a pock. RHS, is considerably damaged / erosion. Noted by GLP as a very accurate dial.

GSS Category: Scratch Dail; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

NETHERBURY . DORSET . ST MARY – Scratch Dial

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ST MARY . NETHERBURY . DORSET

GRADE I ☩ C14 nave and aisles; C14/15 chancel; C15 west tower. S porch rebuilt in 1848 (see below). A handsome church with pleasing proportions. 6m N of Bridport, 9m S of Crewkerne. 50.7923 / -2.7528 / SY470994

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DIAL

The dial dates to C15 and is on W jamb of SW window of S aisle. Allowing for damage, it is a (near) semi-circle with 11 lines of varying length. 8 of them have holes, some terminal and some on the longer lines. GLP notes that the dial is extremely accurately drawn. (GLP) The dial is now shaded by the C19 porch that replaced a smaller one.

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GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen; analysis GLP

MERE . WILTS . ST MICHAEL – Multiple Scratch Dials

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ST MICHAEL . MERE . WILTS

GRADE I ✣ Saxon origins, remnants from late C12; Chancel C13, north and south chantries C14, aisles rebuilt late C14, remainder C15. Highly praised *** by SJ: the screen is the best in Wiltshire; excellent stained glass… A small town fortunately by-passed by the dread A303. 51.0893 / -2.2711 / ST 811322

DIALS

St Michael provides plenty of scope for scratch dial sleuths to bicker about. BBS records 6. The Mere Historical Society records show Handwritten notes on green paper by John Ingram to Dr David Longbourne relating to a sundial (scratch dial) on the buttress of St Michael’s Church, Mere, 1990’s. The Church’s helpful info suggests 2 or perhaps 3. I believe there are at least 6 and possibly up to 10 dials in all.

The BSS record of 6 dials gives 1 – 3 in a cluster on buttress 2 E of the porch (see 4, 9 & 10 below); and 4 – 6 grouped further E on buttress 5 / S wall stairway area.

DIAL 1

DIAL 2

DIAL 3

DIAL 4

(and see plausible dials 9 & 10 on same stone))

DIAL 5

DIAL 6

DIAL 7

DIAL 8 (?)

DIALS 4 (above), 9 & 10

Dials 4, 9 and 10 – all different types – are on the same stone and to an extent impinge on each other.

DIAL 9

DIAL 10

CONCLUSION: enthusiasm can be an enemy of accuracy, and there is always some leeway with multiple dial Churches. I haven’t tried to analyse each dial – the array will with any luck elicit some opinions.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Multiple Scratch Dials; Scratch Dial Clusters

All photos: Keith Salvesen

OSMINGTON . DORSET . ST OSMUND – Scratch Dial

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ST OSMUND . OSMINGTON . DORSET

GRADE II* ☩ C15 west tower; otherwise mainly rebuilt 1846 retaining very little of the original church (?Ferry). Set in a pretty village close to the coast that has the feel of an earlier age (in a good way). 5m E of Weymouth. 50°38’45″N /  2°23’29″W / SY724829

DIAL

This unusual dial is cut on the SW buttress of the tower. I say cut, but in fact it is drilled in a complete circle of small holes surrounding a large gnomon hole centred on the dial stone. There are no lines at all (as with eg TRENT AFPUDDLE TINTINHULL).

St Osmond . Osmington – Dial Diagram BSS

In all there are 36 holes that form an irregular circle flattened at the top. The ring of pocks is (unsurprisingly) not entirely accurate, as the diagram above (GLP; BSS) shows.

As for a noon line, I wonder if the short downward line of (apparent) small pocks, below and to the left of damaged area, mark noon. It’s not vertical, but the design of the dial and its position on the SW face of the buttress perhaps called for a slightly offset noon marker.

The gnomon hole has clearly been enlarged at some time, and sufficiently so to provide a modern home for small snails.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Scratch Dial (pocks only)

All photos: Keith Salvesen

KINGS BROMLEY . STAFFS . ALL SAINTS – Scratch Dials

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All Saints Church . Kings Bromley . Staffs (Humphrey Bolton, Geo CC)

ALL SAINTS . KINGS BROMLEY . STAFFS

GRADE I † Late C11 nave, with remnants; C14 additions, C16 Perp W tower, C19 work. An attractive church in a pretty setting. 3 scratch dials are recorded. 5m N of Lichfield. 52.7507 / -1.8206 / SK122170

DIALS

Dial 1 and Dial 2 can be considered together, because Dial 2 is recorded as being superimposed on Dial 1. It is not uncommon for there to be some overlap between dials, but not to this extent. One might expect a second dial to be cut on a different stone so that it stands out as superseding the first. But perhaps it is the other way round – a rather basic dial over-cut by a more sophisticated one centered on the dial stone.

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DIAL 1

BSS regards this unusual dial highly. It is located on the buttress at E end of the nave. There are eroded remnants of two concentric circles RHS. Notes Worn. Important, poss. unique. Dial like conventional sundial. Double dial, see 2

The gnomon hole is in the centre of the dial stone, and is angled down. The confusion with Dial 2 makes it difficult to apportion the badly eroded lines

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DIAL 2

Dial 2 has an oblong gnomon hole just below the mortar line, slightly surprisingly because it prevents the mortar line from acting as the horizontal. It, too, is slanted downwards and it is hard to think how it could have held a peg, rod, or stick. In the confusion of the linear scratchings, I reckon 2 lines LHS come direct from the hole; and possibly 2 RHS.

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DIAL 3

Dial 3 is on the S wall of the Chancel, under the first window. BBS notes On the verge of destruction. The image in the records is quite old. I have added a B&W version that is a bit easier to read.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Superimposed dial

CREDITS: Erika Clarkson, Dials 1 & 2 (VG sideways shots); BBS record; header as noted

LEIGH . DORSET . ST ANDREW (2) – Unrecorded Scratch Dial

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DEDICATION † ST ANDREW – C15, mid-C19 restoration; C13 font

LISTING † GRADE II*

LOCATION † 5 miles SW of Sherborne, a sprawling village set deep in farming country. Some fine old buildings dating from C16, now mixed in with modern housing. A fine village cross with C15 shaft. A friendly very rural place. No street lights. 50.8762 / -2.5445 / ST617086

In the early days of this site when I was researching scratch dials close to us in Dorset, I discovered that our own village church had one that was already recorded. It didn’t look very ‘dial-ish’ so I was pleased to find an authoritative drawing of it by GLP. My original post is HERE and see below for an image.

ST ANDREW . DIAL 2

The dial is semicircular, RHS of the porch, and just below Dial 1. The gnomon hole is in the mortar line, and plugged. The horizontal mortar line acts as a ‘6-to-6’ line, split by the vertical noon line. This is deeper incised than the three other visible lines.

DIAL 1

Original post HERE

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

STANWAY . GLOS . ST PETER – Vertical Dial; Scratch Dial?

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Stanway . Glos . St Peter

ST PETER . STANWAY . GLOS

GRADE II* ✣ Parish Church. C12 origins; C13 tower; further works C15, C17, C18; restorations 1896 ff. An attractive country church beside the Manor House, close to a remarkable village cricket ground (see below). 11m E of Tewksbury, 12m NE of Cheltenham. 51.9897 / -1.9129 / SP060323

VERTICAL DIAL

The dial is immediately above a 2-light Perpendicular window, and (when I visited) partly obscured by foliage. The gnomon-less dial is dated 1797

The dial is hard to read because of its weathered condition, its high position, and the difficulty taking a square-on photo. Little detail can be seen with the naked eye. There is evidence of a double rectangular border; and there are the remains of decoration above the dial face. The dial is prominently placed and (absent trees in front) would have been visible from quite a distance.

 

SCRATCH DIAL?

In his Glos dials survey, Tony Wood TW lists a scratch dial at Stanway without further detail. It is not noted in TWC’s much earlier list. I can find no other reference, and I did not find a convincing dial. The best candidate was this one, with 3 radials RHS emerging from a large hole. One other line LHS runs beside the hole rather than radiating from it. The other large hole to the left suggests that the pair may have held a fixture, and there is a similar pair lower down.

Tentative conclusion: this is possibly a scratch dial, but dubious. It might be more convincing if it were on its own.

CRICKET PITCH

Straying from dial-specific content, here is a small gallery of the extraordinary cricket pitch, the gift of J M Barrie who stayed at the house. The outfield includes significant areas of ridge and furrow undulations, rather more of a problem for fielders than batsmen I imagine. The pavilion, supported by staddle stones, is an excellent example of satisfying quirkiness. I found a old ball under it to chuck around for a while and decide which end to bowl from.

GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Scratch Dial (?)

All photos: Keith Salvesen

ROMSEY ABBEY . HANTS – Scratch Dial

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ROMSEY ABBEY . HANTS

In a format variation, I will side-step the usual scene-setting para. In comparison with its host building, the somewhat elusive scratch-dial is an infinitesimal part. It is quite rare, I think, to find a scratch dial on a cathedral, abbey, or other major church building. Romsey has one that would be easily overlooked without clues. Next time I’m in Romsey I’ll take a proper camera on a sunny day.

DIAL

The dial is at the E end of the Abbey, inverted on the N face of the S buttress about 4 meters high.

The BSS record describes it as Accurately cut or made. Repositioned, eroded, damaged. Rudimentary (Norman) dial. Probably inverted (faint line and pock URQ. Too high for measurement.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Norman Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen