Maud Heath was a pedlar woman who in 1474 left sufficient money to endow the causeway which crosses the Avon just before it reaches Chippenham in Wiltshire. The best preserved section is a raised footpath supported by 64 brick arches, allowing the river to flow underneath in times of flood. Half way along the causeway, at Kellaways, stands a pillar erected in 1698, and bearing this cube sundial. The original Latin mottoes were translated by the Rev W L Bowles and inscribed on the lower section c 1828. The Rev Bowles had a reputation for absent-mindedness. At a school prize-giving he presented a Bible to one child, having written in it “With the author’s compliments”.
Two other dials grace the causeway. Towards the eastern end, at East Tytherton, a very vandal-proof quincentenary memorial dial was built in heavy stone in 1974 (SRN 3089), and at Langley Burrell, at the western end, you will find a well preserved small vertical of 1719 on the church of St Peter’s (SRN 3085).