St Bartholomew’s Church, Colne

Sited above the porch of Colne Parish Church, this multiple cuboid dial has three gnomons but these are of comparatively recent date and the dial faces are very worn with little detail remaining. The south face has Roman numerals, with VI am visible, and carving along the top may be a date. The east and west dials have Arabic numerals near the gnomons but revert to Roman for the outer hours (2pm on the west and 10 and 11am on the east). There was a dial on the north face but we have no details. The Church Guide book says that the date 1669 was on the gnomon. It also says ’John Dison, who chiselled his name on the stones [in the porch gable, below the dial], probably rebuilt the porch . . . Before placing the sundial he had built upon the roof’. In the porch gable, below the dial, are three lines of inscription and these may be the names of churchwardens but the detail is uncertain.