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
St Mary & St James . Hazelbury Bryan . Dorset – scratch 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.
St Mary & St James . Hazelbury Bryan . Dorset – Marian Mark in the Porch
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.
St Giles . Chideock . Dorset – Scratch Dial
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.
St Giles . Chideock . Dorset – Scratch Dial
GSS Category: Scratch Dial
All photos: Keith Salvesen except header image, ‘Dorset Churches’
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
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch 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.
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch Dial 1
DIAL 2
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch 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.
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch Dial 2
DIAL 3
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch 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.
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch Dial 3
DIAL 4
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch 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.
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch Dial 4
DIAL 5
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch 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.
St Andrew . Wootton Rivers . Wilts – Scratch Dial 5
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
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
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.
All Saints . Alton Priors . Wilts – Scratch Dial (or sundial?) All Saints . Alton Priors . Wilts
GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Old Dial; Unclassified
All Photos: Keith Salvesen; *thanks to CCT for information about the church
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
All Saints. West Camel . Som – scratch 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 1All 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.
DEH191. (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
GRADE 1 † C14 flint-faced cruciform church of considerable interest, in an attractive setting between Lewes and Polegate. Oddly, the usual reliable research resources (BLB, BHO, HE) have minimal or no entry for St Andrew. Luckily the CUCKMERE CHURCHES website gives helpful details. 50.8066 / 0.1581 / TQ521030
St Andrew . Alfriston . Sussex – Scratch Dial
DIAL
The neat compact dial is located on the S porch, on a W side quoin stone. It is encircled, with 12 radials of which the noon line – though the faintest – extends some way beyond the circumference. The style used in the original style hole, now blocked, was evidently superseded by an iron gnomon set in the oblong hole above the cement; probably not earlier than C17. This adaptation is also found at St Michael Litlington, situated opposite Alfriston on the E side of the Cuckmere valley. The dials there are famous and I will post about them separately.
St Andrew . Alfriston . Sussex – Scratch Dial
The radials are contained within the lower half of the dial (below the 6 – 6 horizontal) and are rather randomly spaced at (roughly) the 15º intervals usual in this design. In a later dial, the lines would be graduated. This form is a Canonical dial designed to mark the times of Mass. The significant lines were Terce, Sext and None – the 3rd, 6th (noon) and 9th hours. These are not emphasised here (eg by being cut wider, deeper or longer) although on many dials they are . There is a suggestion (BSS) that at some time the dial was recut / rescratched.
St Andrew . Alfriston . Sussex – Scratch Dial
GSS Category: Scratch Dial
Photos: John Renner (dial); Camilla Pennant (church view across the village green known as the Tye)
GRADE I † C13 origins, mainly C14 / C15; C19 restoration. Set in the grounds of an historic house Brympton D’Evercy and adorned by an unusual (striking?) bell turret. The remnants of a lost medieval village. A mere 2m W of Yeovil yet hidden away in its own parkland, and best reached by map reading, satnav or luck. 50.9359 / -2.6856 / ST519153
DIALS
St Andrew has 2 dials, one on each of the paired corner buttresses of the S transept (HE notes only one). There is a plausible dial fragment on the buttress on the W end of the nave.
DIAL 1
DEH visited St Andrew in July 1915 and recorded: 189. (2) This dial is on a buttress at the s.e. corner of the s. transept, at a height of 4 feet 1 inch above the ground. The noonline is 5 inches in length, the stylehole is 1 1/4 inches deep by 3/8 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 15° e. Type 3.
St Andrew . Brympton . Som – Scratch Dial 1
There are 4 clear lines and one less so. As judged from the noon line, the dial is slightly offset. There is a faintest hint of a line to the right of the noon line, which would make design sense; or perhaps for some reason that area remained blank (and see Dial 2). The strong line mid-afternoon may indicate that the important Mass at St Andrew was none.
St Andrew . Brympton . Som – Scratch Dial 1
DIAL 2
DEH:188. (1) This dial is on a buttress at the s.w. corner of the s. transept, at a height of 4 feet 11 inches above the ground. The noonline is 3 inches in length, the stylehole is 2 1/4 inches deep by 3/4 of an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 10° e. Type 5c.
St Andrew . Brympton . Som – Scratch Dial 2
The dense covering of lichen makes it hard to give an accurate description of this dial. It looks like a conventional semi-circular fan dial with an emphasised horizontal (6-to-6). There are 7 lines for certain; as with Dial 1, the lower R quadrant is less well defined – perhaps less deeply incised and gradually eroded, or because locally the afternoon was not significant for services and could be ignored.
St Andrew . Brympton . Som – Scratch Dial 2
DIAL FRAGMENT?
The markings on the SW face of this buttress are strange. Are these eye-catching striations related to marking the time of day? It seems most unlikely. However, it’s worth zeroing in on the 4 short lines on the stone below. A case could be made that this is a dial fragment on a stone that was at some time relocated there. Alternatively, this is the lower section of a dial in its original position, with the stones now above it displacing the rest of the dial with its style hole.
GRADE l † C12 origins, from C13 gradually expanded, reworked, and restored. Recent additional work. Large coursed and squared sandstone blocksBLB. OE Alorwæsse. Situated by R Trent, between Lichfield (NE) and Burton-on-Trent (SW). 2°44’05.3″N / 1°45’11.1″W / SK 16769 15267
ADDENDUM Feb 24: new images of Dial 3
DIALS
DIAL 1
All Saints . Alrewas . Staffs – Mass dial 1
Located on E side of S porch. A conspicuous dial with a large blocked style hole, eroded and damaged through the ages. Some general local repair. The porch was rebuilt in 1866 and the dial was evidently considered worth preserving as a feature. The B&W archive photo below shows the dial’s state in 1991. The deterioration since then is significant, with the fan of clear lines reduced to vestiges.
BSS dates the dial to C14 and notes Eroded, damaged. Important, possibly unique
Alrewas All Saints – Scratch dial 1991, B&W archive photo ‘Staffordshire Past Track’
All Saints . Alrewas . Staffs – Mass dial 1
DIAL 2
Located on S wall of the nave, R of 2nd Buttress E of door. This dial is also dated by BSS to C14. A simple early dial with lines marking the midday period, roughly 11 – 2 in clock terms. 4 clear lines and 3 very faint, with the noon line slightly longer. The slant-wise photo (as often) reveals more useful detail. I think the pocks are not related to the dial, but are the result of pitting of the sandstone over the centuries. BSS notes Various pocks, but scattered
All Saints . Alrewas . Staffs – scratch dial 2
Traces of a plausibly original medieval gnomon are extremely rare, but original style holes have sometimes been reused / enlarged / adapted for a contemporary gnomon during the life of a church. These were often metal rods. This dial must at some stage have had one and – to judge from the coloured residue – until relatively modern times.
All Saints . Alrewas . Staffs – scratch dial 2
DIAL 3
There is a 3rd and significant dial on the BSS Register for All Saints, also on S wall of the nave and W of easternmost buttress. This strange little dial is described as Unique: multiple pocks covering sector 135°-180°.
All Saints . Alrewas . Staffs – scratch dial 3
At some time the stone must have been rotated 90º, otherwise it makes little sense as a marker for the time of day. Corrected, it covers the period of roughly Terce to Sext in Mass terms. A morning dial.
Erika Clarkson collected dials 1 an 2 and took very good photos (dial 3 is from the BSS record). She also photographed the dial at neighbouring WYCHNOR and you may like to use the link to see them and compare. The dial there, on different stone, is similar to dial 2 above in design.
ADDENDUM Feb 24: new images of Dial 3
Erika recently returned to All Saints and took a photograph of the whole dial stone:
GSS Category: Scratch Dials
All photos: Erika Clarkson, except header image – Peter Ralley; B&W image ‘Staffordshire Past Track’; Dial 3 BSS
GRADE II* † C12 origins, mainly C14, C17 work / expansion. A hamlet with a fine red sandstone church. Hwiccenofre in Saxon times, Wicenore in DB. Church details BLB. NE of Lichfield near Alrewas, close to R Trent. 52.742 / -1.7394 / SK176160
DIALS
St Leonard has 3 recorded scratch dials, one of which features here along with an arguable but doubtful dial. The other 2 official dials will be covered in a separate post. The neighbouring village, Alrewas, has a church (All Saints) also with 3 recorded dials. Two are featured HERE. The third will be featured in due course.
St Leonard . Wychnor . Staffs – Scratch Dial
Prominent on the easternmost buttress of the aisle with a sizeable style hole (a later enlargement of the original?). Cut on black stone and eroded. 4 (5?) broad lines cut in lower R quadrant; other possible traces. An afternoon dial – perhaps locally the most significant part of the canonical day, marking the Masses sext and none: the 6th (noon) and 9th hours.
St Leonard . Wychnor . Staffs – Scratch Dial
BSS additionally notes: 2 pocks in lower R quadrant, & 2 in upper R quadrant at much larger radius. The archive image below shows (lower R quadrant) a terminal pock under the noon line (not uncommon) and another next to it (unusual?). 2 pocks are visible upper R, but whether related to the dial is uncertain.
St Leonard . Wychnor . Staffs – Scratch Dial (BSS archive)
PLAUSIBLE, DOUBTFUL, OR NOT A DIAL?
St Leonard . Wychnor . Staffs – doubtful scratch dial
Image 1 – the original – displays marks that resemble a relocated and inverted dial. Images 2 & 3 show a 180º rotation and close-up. It looks quite plausible, with apparent dial features including extended noon line, a feasible style hole, some pocks that may be part of the design. Also, the focus is on the lower R quadrant, perhaps reinforcing the ‘afternoon Mass’ suggestion above. But overall not quite right, and doubtful at best.
NOTE The Pilgrim Way Church Trail, 14 miles long, links six churches dated from Saxon to Victorian leading to Lichfield Cathedral following an an ancient path. As the excellentPWCT site explains: you can walk, cycle or drive the trail and the three booklets give clear instructions and helpful photographs
GSS Category: Scratch Dial
Photo credits: Erika Clarkson – dial images; Peter Ralley – header image of St Leonard’s; BSS archive
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
Todber Church – Scratch 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.
Todber Church – Scratch Dial
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.
GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN 