Tag: Scratch Dial Images

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

CHICKERELL . DORSET . ST MARY – Scratch Dial

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GRADE II* ☩ C13 Chancel, Nave; other remnants eg blocked C13 doorway. Later additions and restorations. Fine hexagonal pulpit, one panel carved 1630 RW.IM. With its bellcote, a charming small church. On W edge of Weymouth. 50.6248 /  -2.5048 / SY643806

DIAL

The dial is high up (c 3m) on the chancel quoin stone SE corner. GLP dates to C13. Semi-circular (a hint of a complete circle?), with 13 lines. Some terminal pocks. One line – corresponding with Terce – is deeper incised, with a hole outside the circumference.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

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

WOOLHOPE . HEREFS . Treatise on Scratch Dials

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‘Herefordshire Tourist Information’ (VG )

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For a general catalogue of the Scratch dials of Herefs, this charming booklet is the place to start.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Woolhope Treatise on Scratch Dials; Scratch Dial Book Herefs; Scratch Dial Article Herefs

BURNHAM THORPE . NORFOLK . ALL SAINTS – 3 Scratch Dials

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All Saints . Burnham Thorpe . Norfolk (Explore West Norfolk)

GRADE I ✣ First record DB 1087; first rector 1229. C13 expanded C14 & C15. The birthplace of Horatio Nelson; baptised in the C13 font. The gradual development reveals much of interest, enriched by the Nelson connection. A fine North Norfolk church. 52.9412 / 0.7549 / TF852417

DIALS

All Saints has 2 large clear dials on the same buttress. Contributor Erica Clarkson found an unobtrusive third dial on a quoin stone, not otherwise recorded as far as I can see.

All Saints . Burnham Thorpe . Norfolk (EC)

DIAL 1

A fine dial low down on the buttress. There are 3 pocks above the the gnomon hole in the mortar line. Below is a semi-circle of lines all ending in pocks, the noon one being largest. The well-defined lines cut LLQ suggest that morning / None was the main hour for observance.

DIAL 2

Dial 2 has 12 lines radiating from a plugged gnomon hole. There are no pocks. There’s minor puzzle: which is the noon line? The deepest cut line is the seventh line from the LHS horizontal rather than the sixth, and slightly offset to the right. In addition, 3 or 4 lines seem cut off at the mortar line, suggesting a rearrangement of the stonework at some time. (It might also explain why Dial 1 is so low down on the buttress).

DIAL 3

A simple time marker centred in the dial stone, from an earlier period. 2 lines are visible L side. Probably that was all that was required in (say) C13, in simpler times and before the church had developed. The position of the lines suggests that None was the (main) service time.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Buttress Dial

Credits: All photos Erika Clarkson with thanks, except header as shown

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