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December 2018
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.
December 2018
Page 1
Page 1
Notes that this is a bumper Christmas issue and thanks contributing authors. Mentions key articles featured, including the recovery of a stolen sundial, an outdoor reflection dial for a north wall, findings from a local cemetery, and new stone and slate vertical dials by BSS makers.
December 2018
Page 2
Page 2
Details the successful recovery of a substantial 1796 brass horizontal churchyard dial from St Michael-on-Wyre, Lancashire, after it was stolen decades prior and listed on eBay in 2018. The dial is exceptional due to its engraved transversals, reflecting the influence of London instrument makers. Its metallurgy, gnomon angle, and mottoes are analysed.
Dials: Horizontal, Historical Dials
December 2018
Page 6
Page 6
Features two sundials in the model village of Port Sunlight (SRN 2419 and SRN 2420) depicted on postcards, the first one published by Lever Brothers. The first is a cross dial at 11 Bath Street, and the second is a declining dial on the Dell Bridge which currently lacks its gnomon.
Dials: Polar, Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials, The BSS and Members
December 2018
Page 7
Page 7
Investigates a small, folding brass horizontal dial stamped 'Birmingham Patent 1875' similar to examples found in many collections. Analysis confirms the gnomon angle is 45° but the hour lines are grossly incorrect for Birmingham’s latitude (52°), leading to the conclusion that this antique object is functionally useless and an irredeemable 'toy'.
Dials: Portable, Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2018
Page 8
Page 8
Examines two memorials in Tollesbury, Essex. One is a polar cross sundial (a cruciform equatorial dial), inscribed with a reference to Apparent Time. The other, for his polymath father Gerald Dunn, features a symbolic vertical dial engraving and references the patented "Cruiserfix" Solar Navigator, which uses a polar cross dial for navigation.
Dials: Polar, Historical Dials
December 2018
Page 11
Page 11
Details the commission and creation of two vertical wall dials. One is a declining Portland stone dial with a Copernicus quote. The second is a south-facing slate dial showing common, Babylonian, and Italian hours, utilising a notched rod gnomon to serve as a nodus and aid in reading the complex hour systems.
Construction Projects, Dials: Vertical, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2018
Page 14
Page 14
Account of crafting the M-29, a complex slate double horizontal dial delineated for Somerton. The design required extensive research, spreadsheets for data, and the extension of a beam compass to handle large radii for the stereographic projection. The article details the construction process, including V-cutting, material choice, and gnomon construction.
Construction Projects, Dials: Double Horizontal, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2018
Page 18
Page 18
Describes a 1675 brass horizontal dial found atop a broken, ornate pedestal in Edinburgh. The dial, designed for London's latitude (51°), features a 17th-century thick-and-thin pierced gnomon. The date appears genuine, though the pedestal is likely later.
Dials: Horizontal, Historical Dials
December 2018
Page 19
Page 19
Describes a functional horizontal sundial made in a clay modelling class for the visually impaired. It uses boundary lines between contrasting colours and ladybirds marking 1.5-hour intervals, prioritizing visibility and simplicity over high accuracy for its users.
Construction Projects, Dials: Unusual, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2018
Page 20
Page 20
Detailed account of creating an outdoor reflection sundial over five years for a north-facing wall, using a mirror to project a sunspot. The final brass design is a hybrid, using virtual gnomon hour lines for GMT and analemmas marked by planets and asteroids for clock time correction, also celebrating the birth of grandchildren.
Construction Projects, Dials: Reflected, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2018
Page 27
Page 27
A reader questions the accuracy of the east-facing dial on Gouda town hall. By overlaying a correct pattern, the author concludes the hour lines are flawed and makes the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that the pattern might have been copied from local treacle waffles (stroopwafels).
Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2018
Page 28
Page 28
Summarises the history of research into medieval sundials, tracing initial interest back to George Victor Du Noyer and Albert Way in the mid-19th century. Highlights the crucial roles of Margaret Gatty (mottoes) and later scholars like Dom Ethelbert Horne in cataloguing scratch dials (mass dials), leading up to the work of Ernst Zinner.
Dials: Mass Dials, Historical Dials
December 2018
Page 30
Page 30
Describes creating miniature equatorial ‘oculus’ or ‘finger’ dials in pottery, inspired by ancient spherical dials. These interactive dials are read by blocking the sun hole with a finger to align the light spot on the vertical datum line, suitable for educational use.
Construction Projects, Dials: Portable, Dials: Scaphe, Dials: Unusual
December 2018
Page 32
Page 32
A short note pointing out that a bronze sundial made by the author, featuring a figure of Shakespeare and the motto “Life’s but a walking shadow”, was used on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2017 Christmas card.
Construction Projects, Mottoes, The BSS and Members
December 2018
Page 33
Page 33
Examines the two monumental octagonal dials at Newbattle Abbey (1635), featuring unusual sunken dial-pairs with profile gnomons. Discusses two later copies: Lord Home’s (moved to King’s Park, Glasgow, 1885) and Lord Haddington’s at Tyninghame, which remains an undelineated non-sundial.
Dials: Multi Faced, Historical Dials
December 2018
Page 37
Page 37
Reports on the successful celebrations, including a magnificent cake, for the 25th anniversary of the North American Sundial Society (NASS) held at their Pittsburgh conference. Notes the upcoming 30th anniversary of the BSS in 2019.
The BSS and Members
December 2018
Page 38
Page 38
A travelogue describing various French sundials, including: a vertical meridian dial using an aperture nodus in Anduze; a huge dial near Tavel; a colourful, mottoed dial at Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort; and a multi-faced tower dial at Valréas where the delineations appear inconsistent or mysterious.
Dials: Multi Faced, Dials: Noon Lines, Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials
December 2018
Page 43
Page 43
Details the creation of a large marble mosaic floor in Arsenal FC's hospitality space, Dial Square, referencing the club's birthplace and the original Dial Arch sundial (1886). The BSS was consulted regarding the original sundial's missing numeral 'VII', confirming it was likely due to space constraints.
Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2018
Page 44
Page 44
Summary of presentations at the Newbury meeting, covering topics such as aligning boulder dials, using Trespa® as a novel material, dialling scales for laying out dials, Martins Gills' London dial research, Kevin Karney's EoT website, Graham Parks' north wall reflected dial, and John Davis' particle physics experiments on early dials.
The BSS and Members
December 2018
Page 48
Page 48
Describes the serendipitous discovery of a south-facing stone dial from 1739 on the tower of Hörup Church, Sweden, while searching for a Carl Bloch painting. The dial is unusual for Scandinavia as its furniture and embellishments are carved in relief rather than being incised.
Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials
December 2018
Page 50
Page 50
Discusses various challenges in construction projects: ensuring builders are briefed, problems with adhesive on plastic hour lines, and extreme delays (nine years and counting) in installing a replacement dial at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, due to regulatory hurdles.
Construction Projects, Restoration projects
December 2018
Page 52
Page 52
A tribute to the BSS Sundial Glossary for providing the necessary formulae to understand and reproduce the complex criss-cross patterns of Babylonian and Italian hours observed on a polyhedral Scottish dial. The writer provides a faithful reproduction of the hour lines.
Dials: Multi Faced, How Sundials Work, Mathematics of Dialling, The BSS and Members