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Ben Jones
March 2023
Page 22
Page 22
Details the construction of the large 30-foot diameter horizontal dial with a 20-foot stainless-steel gnomon, created for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. To ensure public utility, the hour lines were designed to allow for longitude, making the dial read close to clock time, despite the resulting asymmetry.
Construction Projects, Dials: Horizontal, Equation of Time, Sundial Design & Layout
March 2023
Page 26
Page 26
Summary of the Society's 2022 activities, including holding the York conference and Newbury meeting, maintaining strong finances, and detailing public benefit submissions to the Charity Commissioners. Projects included restoration advice, pro bono design work, and the continued growth of the Fixed-Dial Register.
Construction Projects, Restoration projects, The BSS and Members
December 2023
Page 32
Page 32
Examines scratch dials in the context of general historic graffiti found on church walls. The article discusses how displaced dials can offer dating evidence and explores unusual dial-like markings (like hexafoils and asterisk symbols) that may or may not be scratch dials, encouraging members to report finds.
Dials: Mass Dials, Dials: Unusual
December 2021
Page 18
Page 18
Describes the carving of a south-facing sundial at Princethorpe College, Rugby. The central design constraint was placing a decorative sun disk where the gnomon point usually rests. This was cleverly overcome by using a gnomon featuring a detachable point which was removed after securing the main gnomon.
Dials: Vertical, Sundial Design & Layout, Construction Projects
March 2020
Page 12
Page 12
Describes the process of commissioning and constructing a diamond-shaped vertical dial on the Old School House at Durgan, Cornwall. The wall declination was measured at 17½ degrees east of south. The slate dial is adjusted for longitude to show 'Greenwich Apparent Time' and includes a small notch for local noon. It was a collaborative effort involving the National Trust and letter carver Ben Jones.
Construction Projects, Dials: Vertical, Mathematics of Dialling, Sundial Design & Layout
March 2019
Page 39
Page 39
Review of "Sundials: Cutting Time – The Science and Art of 27 Kindersley Dials" by Frank King and Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley. The beautifully produced book explores 27 dials made by the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop over 80 years, covering the science, making, art, and language of dialling, and features a stereographic projection on the end flap.
Book Reviews
December 2019
Page 12
Page 12
This article details the design and installation of a 3-metre tall obelisk sundial in Cornwall. The obelisk has an equilateral triangular cross-section, featuring two declining/reclining dials engraved on granite and slate, plus a simplified EoT correction table on the north face. Precise GPS alignment and a custom stainless steel turntable were used during installation to achieve high accuracy.
Construction Projects, Dials: Multi Faced, Mathematics of Dialling, Sundial Design & Layout
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
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
September 2015
Page 30
Page 30
Details the complex design and construction process of a large, conical, declining and reclining sundial made from local Forest of Dean stone for Wallsworth Hall, Gloucester. Describes the challenges of working on an uneven surface and using horizontal dials to establish alignment.
Construction Projects, Dials: Unusual, Sundial Design & Layout
June 2014
Page 35
Page 35
Discusses lettering as a crucial abstract and sculptural element on sundials, emphasizing the importance of space, pattern, and texture over purely literal meaning. The article explores techniques like V-incising, raised letters, anagrams, and double texts to enhance the visual and conceptual structure of the inscriptions.
Mottoes, Sundial Design & Layout
September 2006
Page 110
Page 110
This article describes the challenging recreation of a slate vertical declining dial by Negretti & Zambra after the original was severely damaged. The process involved meticulous replication of the design, adapting features for better readability (without gilding), and installing the new dial with modern, durable fixings while preserving the original gnomon.
Dials: Vertical, Restoration projects, Sundial Design & Layout