St Mary the Virgin’s Church (1), North Stoke

Saxon-type circular vertical dial on the south wall of the church. The dial is in the form of a disk being held in the hands of a figure, thought to represent Christ. It is over a doorway, now bricked up. The day was divided into eight tides of around 3 hours. They and/or prayer times are marked on the dial by lines with crosses on. Between them are 4 more lines. The lines are not at equal angles, but closer towards noon as on a modern dial. They are symmetrical about the vertical axis. Above the gnomon there appears to be an inscription "+ A 1537" where ’+’ is a Christian cross. Could this be a date? Perhaps not, as Pevsner says it is Saxon, other historians suggest the fourteenth century. There is a horizontal gnomon of the correct shape and position but it is unlikely to be original. At the same church are two other dials: SRN 0498, SRN 0499. References: Cowham ’Sundials of the British Isles’, 2005 Daniel, ’Sundials’, Shire Publications Ltd, Princes Risborough, 2000 Henslow ’Ye Sundial Booke’, Foyle Ltd, London, 1935, p104