- Home
- /
- Sundial Encyclopaedia
- /
- June 2015
June 2015
The articles link to the specific page in a PDF optimised for speed. If you want the whole issue, you can download it here, but the files from earlier years can be quite large.
June 2015
Page 1
Page 1
This introduces the issue, noting articles ranging from a medieval quadrant account to reports on the recent Nottingham conference and AGM minutes. It also announces Mike Shaw as the winner of the most enjoyed article poll for 2014.
June 2015
Page 2
Page 2
This article describes a small, rare horary quadrant found near Chetwode, Buckinghamshire, in 2014. It is identified as a *quadrans vetustissimus*, designed for unequal hours, likely dating from the mid-13th century or later, and includes a shadow square.
Dials: Portable, Historical Dials, Mathematics of Dialling
June 2015
Page 6
Page 6
This details the commissioning and construction of a horizontal stereographic projection dial made of stainless steel for Pierre Holtzhausen in Centurion, Pretoria, South Africa, intended as a teaching instrument.
Construction Projects, Dials: Horizontal, Sundial Design & Layout
June 2015
Page 7
Page 7
This reports on a 24-hour sundial located in Longyearbyen, Svalbard (the northernmost sundial), gaining the distinction of being the most northerly to witness the total solar eclipse on 20 March 2015.
Dials: Equatorial, Dials: Unusual
June 2015
Page 7
Page 7
A photograph of the total solar eclipse of 20 March 2015 is presented, taken from a cruise ship positioned east of the Faroe Islands.
June 2015
Page 8
Page 8
This explores the life and work of master mason William Aytoun (d. 1643), responsible for incorporating numerous sundials at Heriot’s Hospital in Edinburgh and Innes House in Morayshire. The article discusses similar dials potentially attributed to Aytoun, such as those at Peffermill House.
Dials: Multi Faced, Historical Dials
June 2015
Page 15
Page 15
An examination of the new glass sundial commissioned for the Pewterers’ Company Hall, which is a copy of a mid-17th century original by Richard Dutton. It suggests a possible full reconstruction of the original dial and its architectural surround based on historical descriptions.
Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout
June 2015
Page 17
Page 17
This is a brief note describing a dish decorated with a picture including a sundial. The dish is 160 x 110 mm, numbered on the back, and identified as being made by Lancaster & Sandland of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.
Dials: Unusual
June 2015
Page 18
Page 18
The author seeks identification for a distinctive type of unsigned ivory French diptych dials, c. 1620, characterized by blue and gold painting, town lists, and compass declinations suggesting 7° eastwards. They resemble Dieppe dials but may originate elsewhere in Normandy or Paris.
Dials: Portable, Historical Dials
June 2015
Page 20
Page 20
An obituary for Mike Groom (d. January 2015, aged 73), an engineer who joined the BSS in the early 1990s after independently calculating sundial trigonometry. He was active in conferences, designed a Jubilee dial, and was a successful dinghy helmsman.
The BSS and Members
June 2015
Page 21
Page 21
Addressing the lack of a date scale on the Chetwode Quadrant, this piece explains a practical method for setting the sliding bead on an horary quadrant string. The user relies on frequent observations around noon to refine the bead's position relative to the noon hour line.
Dialling Tools, How Sundials Work, Mathematics of Dialling
June 2015
Page 21
Page 21
A photo and brief note regarding the partial solar eclipse of March 2015, taken from the author's garden in Fife shortly before the maximum occultation.
June 2015
Page 22
Page 22
A biographical account of Anton Schmitz (b. 1926), a German sculptor and master stonemason (Bildhauermeister), who became a POW in England after D-Day. He studied under Heinz Schumacher and later became renowned for making over 100 sundials, specializing in globe dials.
Dials: Multi Faced, Dials: Unusual, Construction Projects
June 2015
Page 28
Page 28
The author details his invention proposal from 1978/79 for a unique heliochronometer, which uses a spherical lens (like a Campbell–Stokes recorder) to focus sunlight onto a grid of Fibre Optic Cables (FOCs) that relay the light to a display. The proposed dial was never built.
DIY Sundial Projects, Dials: Heliochronometer, Sundial Design & Layout
June 2015
Page 30
Page 30
Description of an armillary dial commissioned in 2013 to cover an unused well head at a country house in Southern Ireland. It features two identical arcs, 800 mm in diameter, cut from a phosphor bronze slab using a water jet.
Construction Projects, Dials: Armillary Sphere
June 2015
Page 31
Page 31
A report on sundials discovered during travels in India and Sri Lanka over three years. Finds include the Sanderson horizontal marble dial in Delhi, a Shimla bronze dial listing railway time, an analemmatic dial in Leh, and an unusual modern dial in Sri Lanka.
Dials: Analemmatic, Dials: Horizontal, Dials: Unusual, Historical Dials
June 2015
Page 35
Page 35
A review of *La Mesure du Temps dans L’Antiquité* by Jérôme Bonnin, published in March 2015. The book deals primarily with Graeco-Roman sundials and revises traditional classification and terminology, with a chapter on mathematical challenges by Denis Savoie.
Book Reviews, Historical Dials
June 2015
Page 36
Page 36
Details the restoration work on a probable 17th-century brass dial found at Hole Park Gardens, Kent, originally identified by John Davis. The work involved straightening the warped plate, realigning the assumed replacement gnomon, cleaning the surface, and applying a mid-brown patina.
Dials: Horizontal, Historical Dials, Restoration projects
June 2015
Page 37
Page 37
Short descriptive notes accompanying photographs showing the Hole Park dial prior to restoration, highlighting the heavily patinated and scratched dial plate which had been stretched into a convex shape by previous damage.
Historical Dials, Restoration projects
June 2015
Page 38
Page 38
Summarizes new entries to the Register reported in 2014, including historical dials across the UK (Glasgow, Norfolk, Wales, Yorkshire, Scotland), a Campbell–Stokes sunshine recorder in Madeira, and modern commemorative dials.
Dials: Unusual, Historical Dials
June 2015
Page 41
Page 41
A comprehensive report on the conference sessions, including talks on Australian sundials, the history of Enid Blyton's dial, the Burlingham Sundial Trail, Mike Groom's heliochronometer, and site visits to Bromley House Library and Green's Mill.
Construction Projects, Historical Dials, The BSS and Members
June 2015
Page 45
Page 45
Records the proceedings of the first AGM held under the new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) constitution on 11 April 2015 in Nottingham. The minutes, accounts, and trustees’ report were accepted, and trustees were re-elected.
The BSS and Members
June 2015
Page 46
Page 46
A report outlining the Society’s activities, including celebrating the Silver Jubilee, improving the website interface (Bridol operational), holding educational workshops at Cheney School, implementing the CIO status change, and acknowledging member participation.
The BSS and Members
June 2015
Page 48
Page 48
Financial statements for the period covering the dissolution of the 'old' Registered Charity and the opening accounts of the 'new' CIO Society, showing that income and expenditure were balanced for the calendar year 2014.
The BSS and Members