Wall Sundial: Stephen Taylor Court, King's College, Cambridge

This wall sundial is in the new Stephen Taylor Court of King's College, Cambridge, which is about a mile to the south-west of the main part of the College. The dial is cut into a rectangular slab of slate and faces about 3.6° south of due east. Without considerable decoration, near direct-east-facing sundials can be rather dull to look at. This dial is therefore lavishly augmented with decorative features! Each hour number is set in a sunburst, and the lettering of the inscription is populated with sunflowers and foliage. The words are the first verse of The Flower by Alfred Lord Tennyson. The customary horizon line is implicit rather than explicit; its position is marked by the base line of the opening words: Once in a golden. There is no gnomon; instead there is a gold-plated disc nodus which casts a circular shadow. The foot of the nodus support aligns with the implicit horizon line and is close to the intersection of the 6 am hour line and the equinoctial line. The foot not only breaks both these lines but also displaces the 6 am hour label. The photograph was taken at 10 o'clock local apparent solar time on the day of the summer solstice. The sundial was installed in 2025.