St Mary the Virgin’s Church (2), Wootton nr Woodstock

Rectangular vertical south-facing dial set into the stonework over the porch. This very old dial is quite worn but still legible with care. It has full length hour lines, crudely incised into the soft stone. 6am and 6pm are not in line with one another, as they should be, but otherwise the morning lines are reasonably accurate, the afternoon lines less so. The Roman numerals before 9am are illegible. From 9am to 3pm they run along the bottom of the dial, the ’I’ strokes aligned with the hour lines. From 4pm (IIII) to 6pm the numerals run up the right edge, with prominent vertical slab serifs, so the numbers are read from the right. The flat iron gnomon has a semicircular support. The dial dates from 1623 but was restored in 1997. The motto (unrestored, in a moulding over the dial plate) is now partially illegible. Gatty (in 1890, dial No226, p152) says the motto reads: "Ille ego sum, Longum qui metior annum, omnia qui video, per quem videt omnia tellus, mundi oculis" but a church guide says, and one can still read, ".. Qui longum metior..". Our records say that the initials "RH & JR Ch Wdns." are here. The dial is also noted in Mee’s "The King’s England" (Oxfordshire). Note that the dial SRN 1323 is a few yards away. This village is the Wootton north of Woodstock, not to be confused with other Woottons.