Tagged: Dials

There are now over 4000 dials in Bridol, the on-line subset of the Society’s Fixed Dial Register of British dials. The Bridol display has recently been revised and offers a number of capabilities that may interest the armchair diallist.

Chief among these is closer integration between the list and map views. Any set of dials selected by the filters can be shown as a sortable list or on a map, using tabs to switch views. Clicking an individual dial in the list view reveals it on the map with detailed information and a thumbnail  that links to photos of the dial:

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We are pleased to announce that a new version of Bridol is now available on the site, adding nearly 2,000 extra dials. Full details and photographs are provided for the majority of dials although, as before, private dials are excluded and particularly vulnerable ones have their location withheld. Those marked as ‘Access: Restricted’ may be open only at certain times and may require an entrance fee. Those marked ‘Access: Visible’ can be easily seen from a public place, but may not be viewable close up.

Bridol can be found in the menus under Sundials/British Dials/List or /Map: the list view allows various ways of filtering the dials: by location (place name or postcode), type, condition, county or date. Alternatively you can enter any text you are interested in into the search box.

If you prefer to have the dials on your own computer or tablet, the same set, in a slightly different format, is available as a pdf on DVD or USB Memory Stick. Ask for ‘The Sundial Register’ from Elspeth Hill at sales@sundialsoc.org.uk. The cost is £15 plus postage.

This dial (SRN 1409) was recently stolen from the churchyard in Osgathorpe, Leics. If you see or hear of it on eBay or any auctioneer’s site, please let David Brown know. The theft has been reported to the police.

A new issue of the Fixed Dial Register has been published, designed for sale to the general public. 4,500 dials in the British Isles are included, with a full description and one large photograph per dial and up to three additional smaller photos. Coordinates can be copied and pasted directly into mapping apps like Google Maps or Streetmap. The register is in the form of a pdf file, indexed and book-marked by county. Click here to see a couple of sample pages.

The register costs £15 and is available from sales@sundialsoc.org.uk, on DVD or USB Memory Stick. Christmas is coming!

This unusual equatorial sundial was designed by BSS member Robert Scott Simon in 1988.  The time scale is mounted at the end of a long sloping support, and rotational adjustment is provided to twist the dial by means of an adjustment screw, according to the Equation of Time correction needed for 25 different date settings. Time marks on the Equator band show the hours using Arabic numerals from 8am to 9pm, with half hour divisions. An explanatory plaque is fitted to the concrete pedestal.