March 2022
Page 21

Readers’ Letters

A collection of three letters: John Wilson reports on the theft of a Gunning heliochronometer from Belvoir Castle. Irene Brightmer investigates whether the maker of her 1812 slate dial, Griffith Dafydd, is the same person as Griffith Davies FRS, maker of a prize-winning 1820 dial. Kevin Karney provides a correction on the naming of his 'spider dial'.
Dials: Heliochronometer, Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout

John Wilson
Irene Brightmer
Kevin Karney

June 2021
Page 44

Reader’s Letter

A reader discusses an unusual sundial near the Imperial War Museum, featuring hour lines on the ground that continue vertically up a wall. The author models the dial, hypothesizing that it functions like a giant diptych pocket dial or that the vertical markings are merely endpoints for the hour lines, noting its history in the Fixed Dial Register.
Dials: Portable, Dials: Unusual, How Sundials Work, Sundial Design & Layout

John Wilson

March 2020
Page 10

Wonky Sundials: Our Heritage – Safe in their Hands?

Discusses several examples of horizontal sundials found in public places (Holme Lacy House Hotel, Hodsock Priory, Canons Ashby) that are poorly aligned and useless for telling time. The author carries a compass to check sundial alignment, noting that badly set-up dials discredit those interested in them. The Hodsock Priory dial is attributed to Joseph Wilson of Stamford, circa 1818–1860.
Dials: Horizontal, Sundial Design & Layout, Historical Dials

John Wilson

September 2020
Page 35

A Benoy Sundial at the British Horological Institute’s Museum of Timekeeping

Describes an unusual Benoy dial (SRN 4074) at Upton Hall, invented by W. Gordon Benoy, that uses a liquid-filled glass cylinder to focus a light beam onto the dial face instead of a shadow. Notes the dial is in need of refurbishment and mentions a second, missing Benoy dial.
Dials: Reflected, Dials: Unusual, Historical Dials

John Wilson

September 2018
Page 22

The British Sundial Society’s Library

Details the BSS Library, housed in the Thoroton Room of the historic Bromley House Library in Nottingham. The collection is for reference only and includes valuable books kept in locked cupboards. The Library building, which also houses a brass meridian line and a heliochronometer, is currently undergoing a major restoration programme.
The BSS and Members

John Wilson

September 2018
Page 33

Sundial at the Friends’ Meeting House, Brant Broughton, North Kesteven

Describes a simple, unadorned stone vertical sundial installed in 1780 on the gable end of the Friends’ Meeting House in Brant Broughton, Lincolnshire. The square-section rod gnomon suggests the wall declines slightly west of south. Although the numerals are clear, the hour lines are poorly painted and the noon line is not vertical, indicating an unskilled diallist.
Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout

John Wilson

June 2017
Page 29

Throwing Light on a Sundial at Newstead Abbey

This article investigates an unusual mid-19th century sundial located in the Cloister of Newstead Abbey. The dial plate, inscribed ‘Osmond Sarum’, is mounted on a marble capital presented to Mrs F. Webb in 1856, which was originally from the Temple of Venus in Piraeus.
Dials: Horizontal, Historical Dials

John Wilson