St Osmund Osmington Mass Dial – GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN

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.