September 2019
Page 1

Editorial

The editorial notes that the September issue is thinner than normal, mentions the highest recorded UK temperature (38.7° C) in Cambridge on 25 July, and highlights recurring themes like follow-up articles, Latin mottoes, the shortest day, and a saga resulting from a query to the Help and Advice Service.

September 2019
Page 2

Sundials in the Zuylenburgh Collection in Utrecht

This article details a visit to the privately owned Zuylenburgh collection in Oud-Zuilen, Utrecht, which includes sundials, clocks, and scientific instruments. Highlights include a vertical dial by Pieter de Ruiter, several armillary dials, and portable dials by notable makers such as J. Smith, W. & S. Jones, Elias Allen, Thomas Wright, and Humfrey Cole.
Dials: Vertical, Dials: Portable, Historical Dials, Dials: Armillary Sphere

Doug Bateman

September 2019
Page 7

Brushing up on your Latin… Inscriptions

This piece examines Latin mottoes found on sundials visited during the 2019 BSS Conference in Bath. It provides translations for inscriptions on the Parade Gardens armillary sphere, Kingswood School’s vertical and analemmatic dials, and the Pilkington & Gibbs heliochronometer, ending with a challenge regarding the Royal Victoria Park cross dial inscription.
Dials: Analemmatic, Dials: Heliochronometer, Dials: Vertical, Mottoes

David Brown

September 2019
Page 10

Mnajdra Solar Temple, Malta

The article discusses the Neolithic Mnajdra temple complex in Malta, which flourished between 3600 and 2500 BC. The structure incorporates features marking key points in the sun’s annual cycle, aligning the rising sun at the equinoxes and solstices. This precision suggests Mnajdra may be the earliest known structure marking all four significant points in the solar cycle.
Historical Dials, How Sundials Work

Julian Lush

September 2019
Page 12

Gnomons of Portable Dials

This survey focuses on the ornate gnomons used on attractive portable dials made for gentlemen. Examples are provided from various makers, including Michael Butterfield, Pierre Sevin, Nicholas Lemaindre, and Richard Glynn, showcasing finely fretted, gilt, and engraved designs on small silver or brass horizontal and inclining dials.
Dials: Portable

Mike Cowham

September 2019
Page 14

All Set for the Rocky Mountains

The author recounts finding a brass strip outside Union Station in Denver, Colorado, marking 105° west longitude, the reference meridian for Mountain Time. He explains to an assembled tour group that this longitude corresponds to Mountain Time being seven hours behind the time in the U.K.
Mathematics of Dialling, The BSS and Members

Frank King

September 2019
Page 15

A Sundial by Thomas Hart

The article details the investigation into a dial inscribed 'Jwade' and 'Thos. Hart 1773', which was found to be the genuine article stolen from All Saints’ Church in Iwade. The investigation concurrently identified eight other similar dials (like one at Wilton House Museum) bearing the 20th-century “Brazen-Faced Old Optimist” motto, believed to be later replicas.
Dials: Horizontal, Historical Dials, Restoration projects

Sue Manston

September 2019
Page 19

Postcard Potpourri 48. Dial House, Marlow, Buckinghamshire

This entry describes a nineteenth-century vertical dial (SRN 0501) by Edwin Clark at Dial House, Marlow. The dial declines to the west, showing 1 pm to 8 pm, with gilded lines on a blue ground, and features the mottoes “Ne quid pereat” and “Horas non numero nisi serenas”.
Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials, Mottoes

Peter Ransom

September 2019
Page 20

The Shortest Day Revisited

This follow-up article explains, using an astronomical perspective, why the earliest sunset and latest sunrise do not coincide exactly with the shortest day. The discrepancy arises because the Equation of Time causes the 'noon' line, measured by local mean time, to wander relative to the 12h line, shifting the symmetry of the sunrise and sunset curves.
Equation of Time, How Sundials Work, Mathematics of Dialling

Fiona Vincent

September 2019
Page 21

A Richard Melvin Sundial

A description of a recently recovered slate sundial by Richard Melvin, typical of his finely engraved work. The dial includes an EoT correction scale, a compass rose, 70 geographical locations, and four smaller corner dials indicating times in New York, Alexandria, Isle of Borneo, and New Zealand.
Dials: Unusual, Equation of Time, Historical Dials

Ian R. Butson

September 2019
Page 22

3D Reconstructions of Ancient Sundials with Multiple Faces: Part 2

This article continues the analysis of ancient multi-faced sundials using 3D reconstructions. It examines a dial from the Musei Vaticani with three vertical hollow cylindrical faces and a combination dial from Herculaneum featuring vertical hollow cylindrical and spherical faces. Analysis includes calculation based on geographical latitude and declination lines.
Dials: Hemispherical, Dials: Multi Faced, Historical Dials, Mathematics of Dialling

Ortwin Feustel

September 2019
Page 27

The Cross Dials and Mottoes of the Reverend Robert Essington

A detailed analysis of the Reverend R.W. Essington (1818–1907) and his enthusiasm for cross dials. It documents the three cross dials he erected at Shenstone and Newquay, discussing their mottoes and inscriptions, and provides strong evidence linking him to the design or erection of the cross dial in the Royal Victoria Park Botanical Gardens in Bath.
Dials: Unusual, Historical Dials, Mottoes

Christine Northeast

September 2019
Page 33

Reader’s Letter

This letter comments on the study of the shortest day, noting that Claudius Ptolemy wrote about the 'Inequality in the Days' around 150 AD in "The Almagest". Ptolemy correctly identified the two causes—the Solar Anomaly (Eccentricity Effect) and the variation in Meridian crossing (Obliquity Effect)—demonstrating extraordinary precision in calculating the Equation of Time effects.
How Sundials Work, Mathematics of Dialling, Equation of Time

Kevin Karney

September 2019
Page 34

In the Footsteps of Thomas Ross. Part 28: The Lee Castle Sundial

The author investigates a sunken rhombic dodecahedron sundial found in Leitholm. Initially theorised to be the missing multi-faced dial described by Thomas Ross at Lee Castle, this theory was later refuted by evidence showing that broken pieces of the original Lee Castle dial still existed elsewhere in 1984. The Leitholm and Lee Castle dials are likely by the same maker.
Dials: Cube, Dials: Multi Faced, Historical Dials

Dennis Cowan

September 2019
Page 36

Spot the Sundial

This piece describes a very large, difficult-to-spot sundial located high on the south-east face of the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse in Denver, Colorado. The dial, declining 48.08° east, is estimated to be 38 feet wide by 19 feet high, uses stainless steel strips for furniture, and demonstrates the building’s green credentials.
Construction Projects, Dials: Vertical, Sundial Design & Layout

Frank King