St Mary’s Church, Sydenham

Small octagonal dialplate now used as a lock escutcheon on the church door. The circular dial scale is that of a horizontal sundial with the gnomon foot in the exact centre: a most unusual design. The hour lines are far from accurate for any latitude, so it is impossible to say where it was original used. The half hours are marked by stars. There are other stars, purely for decoration, on the ’south’ side of the dial. The Roman hour numerals are read from inside the dial / the opposite side. They use IIII at 4 o’clock. The dialplate is presumed to be very old, perhaps seventeenth century. The gnomon is missing, of course, but a slot where it would have fitted is visible along the noon line. References: C Daniel, Clocks Magazine, July 1989, p44. Mee.