The British Sundial Society

Promoting the Art and Science of Gnomonics since 1989

The 2024 Conference will be held in Peterborough from 12-14 April 2024. Booking can be made using the form included with the Bulletin, also available here. Full details are to will follow but and we are hoping that members will be able to give talks about any sundial topic of interest, usually of 20 – 40 minutes duration. Talks from new members will be very welcome. Prospective speakers should contact Doug Bateman in the first instance.

A reminder that the Newbury one day meeting will be held this Saturday, 17th September. As well as the usual talks and displays the AGM will also be held here. Full details were included in the September Bulletin and are available here.

The 2022 Conference will be held at the Hilton York hotel from 22nd to 24th April 2022, and online booking is now available. For paper bookings, please use this updated version of the booking form. This corrects a couple of inaccuracies in the version included with the December Bulletin which should no longer be used.

The hotel is in a prime location – within the City walls (not to be confused with other Hiltons), 600 metres as the crow flies from the railway station and a similar distance to York Minster. It is well placed for the walking tour which is being organised by Louise and Chris Smail. Of course, there are many attractions in York if members wish to make use of some free time or are staying any extra days. Parking at the hotel is limited but there are many public car parks nearby: details are included in the December Newsletter that accompanies the Bulletin.

As well as the lecture programme there will be the usual display and many books will be on sale. For the Andrew Somerville Memorial Lecture we are privileged to host Dr Gloria Clifton. Dr Clifton is an acclaimed expert on historic scientific instruments and will talk about professional sundial makers in the British Isles from the late sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Included will be an examination of specially commissioned sundials at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, including some designed by members of the British Sundial Society.

We are hoping that members will be able to give talks about any sundial topic of interest, usually of 20 – 40 minutes duration. Talks from new members will be very welcome. Prospective speakers should contact Doug Bateman in the first instance.

 

 

 

We are again meeting at Sutton Hall, Stockcross, Newbury RG20 8LN (directions below).

Exhibits – Talks – Bookstall

Beautiful country village setting. Plenty of free parking. Modernised village hall with ample space, tables and chairs for all your interesting displays (indoors and outside) of sundials, models, photos etc. Please include a card with your name on any displays.

Please bring something along:

  • Dials: finished, or in progress
  • Pictures
  • Paraphernalia

Speakers welcome – 10-minute talks / demos. Please e-mail David Pawley with suggestions for talks, ideally before mid-September 2019 if possible.

Read More

The silver and gold Saxon sundial discovered at Canterbury Cathedral in 1938 is a unique but enigmatic device. Although widely featured in a superficial manner in many publications it has not been properly studied before: neither its materials and manufacture nor for its likely provenance have been discussed. John Davis’ new monograph describes an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) examination of its several component parts, leading to the hypothesis that it is closely linked to King Edgar’s reform of the English monetary system in A.D. 973.

BSS Monograph #14, The Portable Saxon Sundial at Canterbury Cathedral, can be found on our Publications page, together with other monographs and BSS publications.