GRADE II* ❖ Norman origins, C14 work, rebuilt C15, restored 1872. An attractive church both outside and in. Visited by DEH on 6 Oct 1911 on one of his early dial expeditions from Downside Abbey. Roughly halfway between Wells and Shepton Mallet. 51.199 / -2.6094 / ST575446
DIAL
DEH recorded a single dial on W corner of S aisle. He noted a 2.5 inch deep gnomon hole, and commented ‘…this dial is cut on soft red sandstone and has all 12 hour lines… many of them probably added to the original design’. More than 100 years later, only 9 are legible.
GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Dial erosion
GRADE II* ❖ C13 – C15; C19 restoration (some by T H Wyatt). Quite large, with nave, chancel, north and south porches, south vestry, west tower. Predominantly Perp. Busy history and plenty to look at, approval by PEV. 10m N of Castle Cary; 16m S of Shepton Mallet 51.124 / -2.4854 / ST661361
DIALS
There are 3 dials (one unrecorded?). W of the porch, low down on a relocated quoin stone, there are 2 interesting near-overlapping dials cut on W face. This is a good example of ‘dials ancient and modern’: a small early dial – simple and rustic – superseded by a later dial cut with attention to detail. The 3rd dial is on the buttress E of the porch.
DEH visited the church on 16 October 1913 . By now he was using a camera to photograph selected dials, including Lamyatt. The quality of his images is surprisingly good. He also used a motorcycle to extend the scope of his researches from Downside Abbey. More about this extraordinary monk in due course.
Note: single ‘t’ Lamyatt; plugged gnomon hole, now invisible
DIALS 1 and 2
DEH visited the church on 16 October 1913 and recorded dials 1 & 2.
DIAL 1. This small dial has 3 radials emerging from a now undetectable gnomon hole in the corner of the mortar line ULQ. The deeper cut and crudely bent line RHS suggests that the main canonical hour for observance was Nones. In due course a replacement dial was called for.
DIAL 2
DIAL 2. On the same quoin stone, also W-facing, a later and far more practical dial was cut. 4 radials the same length fan out from a gnomon hole in the mortar line (the original plug?). These are arranged within a minor arc, and scale up both in width and depth LHS to RHS. The overall effect indicates competence and care by the maker.
The radials each end in a dot (one is barely detectable). The line spacing of the dial in its original position arrangement is a puzzle. In a literal way, noon would be exactly between lines 2 and 3, as sometimes found on other churches.
DIAL 3
On the buttress E of porch, at head height, a dial with 2 long lines descending from a mortar line that has a hint of a gnomon hole. It seems to be in its original position. Presumably the vertical mortar line – now a crack – acted as the noon line dividing the 2 radials from the smaller quoin stone.
GRADE II ✣ Original dedication 1239; rebuilt 1867 perp. Dial re-sited. ‘The best brasses in Dorset’ (Pev.): full length, of Sir Thomas and Dame Joan Brook. A large church for a small village. Interesting (and at times somewhat lurid) history (see BLB). 6 miles SE of Chard. 50.8263 / 50°49’34″N . -2.8873 / 2°53’14″W . ST375033
LOCATION
During the rebuild it looks as if care was taken to re-site the dial more or less intact. However, an obscure place was chosen, low down on N wall of the aisle, semi-hidden by a buttress. The dial is weathered and faint – even with the field notes of GLP, it took me a while to find it.
DIAL
The dial has a near-complete circumference line (damaged at the top) and 4 radials, of which only one is readily visible. Its 90° reorientation and its secluded position renders it useless for its purpose.
Rotating a B&W image of the dial-stone 90° clockwise gives a sense of how – in its original position – it would have acted as a marker for the progress of the day, observance times etc. In its current location it serves merely as a curiosity for the completest dial-chaser.
GRADE I ❖ C12 origins; rebuilt C14; subsequent alterations C15/16; restoration 1865. Fine S porch with a splendid collection of carvings; interesting monuments within. On the Cotswold Way NE of Chipping Sodbury. 51°33’49″N 2°20’20″W ST766850
VERTICAL DIAL
This rather splendid dial, cut high on a buttress, is somewhat rustic for its exalted position. It faces SW, which explains why the lines radiate from a corner, rather than top centre or central to the dial stone. The randomness of the radials and the gaps between them suggests difficulty matching them with the positions of the roman numerals along the base and RHS of the dial.
BRITISH SUNDIAL SOCIETY RECORD 1998
GSS Category: Vertical Dial; Dial on Church
CREDIT: Martin May, with thanks for contacting me and for the excellent photos of this interesting dial
GRADE II* ❖ C13 nave, C14 west tower and late C14 chancel; mid- to late C19 restorations. Very close to the famous early church at Kilpeck. St Dubricius has just one farm for company. If you are going to Kilpeck, this small church is worth a short visit on the way. 51.9766 / -2.8154 / SO440312
DIAL
The dial is within the porch to the right of the doorway. It is encircled. The whole left half is now very faint. The clear straight line RHS at 3 extends beyond the circumference, suggesting that mid-afternoon marked the significant time of the day. Above it, at 6, a scratched rustic ‘line’. Just below there’s a near-obliterated straight line. With some imagination, there may even be a trace (see close-up) of a noon line. At some stage a copper rod has been used as a gnomon, with the blue coloration spreading below.
I’d like to have discovered when the porch was added, but none of the main resources give this (not even ‘mentioned in Pevsner’).
Grade 1 ✣ Foundations date to AD 745; Saxon work visible in sanctuary. Substantially Norman, built mid-C12 as a 4-chambered basilica (cf Kilpeck nearby). C13 – 14 alterations, additions. Restorations from mid C19. Impressive fibre glass spire installed 1970s. It replaces the last of several spire dramas since the original of c1320 was completed (see HERE). Situated in the Golden Valley of Herefs. 52.0412 / -2.9564 / SO344385
DIALS
DIAL 1
RHS of Priest’s door. A morning dial with 5 lines, each with a terminal pock. The noon line – slightly offset – has a pock halfway down.
❖❖❖❖
DIAL 2 [and 3]
On a substantial buttress, a small dial so basic that I discounted it at first. The 2 lines do not even descend properly from the gnomon hole 3 ins above. The hole looks as though it has been enlarged at some time. I assume it predated and was succeeded by Dial 1.
❖❖❖❖
DIAGRAMS OF ALL DIALS INCLUDING DIAL 3*
Dial 2: the 2 short lines LHS are near-invisible now. I wonder if they were ever part of a dial.
Dial 3: this morning dial is close to Dial 2, but I missed it. It must be above the coping stone.
❖❖❖❖
HEREFORDSHIRE DIALS The county is well-served by the excellent small book (1988) by Richard & Catherine Botzum. It covers both scratch dials and conventional church dials, with a few church marks at the end. It is a pleasant read, the sort of book I’d have enjoyed writing.
GSS Category: scratch dial; mass dial; early sundial
GRADE I † A fine early church in a lovely setting. C11 quoins to nave; C12 nave rebuilt; C14 3-stage W tower, porch; C15 chancel. Later alterations, restorations. Just W of Dorchester, yet seeming miles away in its peaceful valley. Visit Winterbourne Monkton while you are there (2 perhaps 3 dials). 50.7067 / -2.5266 / SY629898
DIALS
Two dials are recorded. I last visited this church more than 2 years ago, in early evening sunshine but with shadows on the church. I have recently been back in better light to re-photograph the main dial; and to check for another rudimentary dial noted on the S buttress of the tower in a 1997 survey. I didn’t find it on my first visit.
DIAL 1
Dial 1 is located on a SW quoin stone of the nave. When examined in the 1990’s it was noted to be ‘behind a drainpipe’, which is no longer the case. By strange coincidence, when I revisited, the rest of the drainpipes were being repaired and repainted.
This is a straightforward 4-line morning dial with a pleasingly casual approach to straight lines. The two deeper incised lines suggest that late morning was the significant time of the day for observance.
DIAL 2
Dial 2 is so simple that I cannot claim to have discovered it this time round. It was recorded as being on S buttress of the tower, with 1 line a mere 45mm long, a small gnomon hole, and a pock LLQ . It was noted in 1997 as ‘very faint’. Although Dial 1 is mentioned in several places (eg BHO), I have found no additional reference to this tiny time marker. So for the second time I failed to find it, even in sunlight. However, a drawing was made and is all I can offer.
Do see the Saxon statue mentioned in the notice below (there is a similar one in Bradford on Avon), and indeed spend some time inside this interesting church.
GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Eroded Dial
GRADE I ✣ Entirely rebuilt in the mid-15th century, incorporating earlier foundations and materials. C15 font and pews. Other details of the interior at BLB. Behind the church are ruins of its predecessor. 51.8001 / -1.5315 / SP324113
St Kenelm . Minster Lovell . ACNY cc/os
DIAL
The dial consists of an incomplete circle of 9 holes, and no radials. There are a couple of eroded marks at the top that might have been linked to the design. A pleasingly small, neat dial.
LOCATION
The dial is on the buttress on L corner of N transept chapel, to the left of entrance porch. It was obviously repositioned at some time, given its orientation and the dissimilarity of the stone to those around it.
GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Relocated Dial
Photos: John Renner with thanks, except 2 ACNY cc/os
Grade I ✣ C12 origin; gradual expansion to C15 (see BHO diagram); C19 restorations. Much of interest within, esp vast mid-C14 Doom wall painting on north wall of nave. Of note: stone bench seats within porch with incised lines where yeomen are reputed to have sharpened their arrows (cf Gnosall Staffs). In 1291 the rectory was valued at £14 13s. 4d. The extremely informative Evenlode Churches website is recommended – a model of its kind. 51.928 / -1.6598 / SP234255
John Renner
DIALS
There are 3 dials in a cluster on W face of the porch. The first is very visible and detailed, undoubtedly the latest. The second is a semi-circle type, fanned out beneath the mortar line. The third is little more than a trace between the two, perhaps a test scratching or passing whim.
John Renner
DIAL 1
John Renner
DIAL 1 has a sizable gnomon hole, enlarged over tIme. The noon line is emphasised by being cut beyond the circle boundary; it also marks Sext. The emphatic horizontal incision RHS suggests that sunset (nocturns; compline) was a significant hour for observance. There are 4, possibly 5, faint lines URQ – probably rustic knife / nail scratchings rather than part of the original dial.
DIALS 2 and 3
John Renner
DIAL 2 has 6 lines radiating from the mortar line. The discrepancy between the line spacing LLQ and LRQ was perhaps an attempt to correct the shadow-fall angle of the sun in the later part of the day.
DIAL 3 is as close to not being a dial as it could be. However, there is a badly cut line at approximately noon; and (anticlockwise) a line approximately at None. There’s also a hint that a gnomon might have been in the vertical mortar line above the horizontal.
GRADE 1 ✣ A fine Perpendicular church on the site of Benedictine Priory, standing proudly near the centre of the town and visible from some distance away. Mainly built mid C15 using much red sandstone. The Grade denotes the importance of the building, and the interior offers much for the visitor. Also, see the splendid Norman motte and bailey castle nearby. 50.4319 / -3.6878 / SX802604
From the Parish website
SCRATCH DIAL
The dial is in a poor state, and tucked away on a buttress at E end of the church. It was clearly relocated from the sunny side at some time, thereafter serving a decorative function at best.
There are ±8 lines radiating from a large or enlarged gnomon hole. Unusually, they terminate in large pocks that are graduated down in size to noon and (as far as one can tell now) upwards LRQ from the noon line. At some stage the lowest holes and the bottom right corner were badly damaged but despite the remedial mortar, it is just possible to see that there were ‘afternoon holes’.
Credits: Erika Clarkson, for her detailed photos of the dial; wigulf . wiki . cc / os for the header image; Parish website for the view of Totnes and the church
GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN 