BRIDOL is the British Sundial Society's Register of Fixed and Mass Dials, which gives detail and photographs of about 8000 fixed sundials and 3000 mass dials in the UK.
Some of these are in private gardens, but the majority are publicly available.
The dial was mounted on the south wall of a loggia of the castle when it was built in 1968, but its origin is not known. It is bordered with a band of floral decoration, and topped with a coat of arms, not identified. Across the top of the dial plate is the motto ’QUOTIDIE MORIOR’, with the date 1693 below that and on each side of the gnomon root. The date is a mystery because the earliest date for Pentillie Castle is 1695. It is suggested that the dial could have been brought in by Lady Elizabeth Coryton from Newton Ferrers, but the true date is unknown.
It has Roman hour numerals for 6am to 6pm, those for 6 to 9am being read from the inside and reversed, thus appearing as ’XI IIIV IIV IV’. Hours 3 to 6pm are also read from the inside, with the 6 also reversed to ’IV’, and along the base of the chapter ring are ’X XI * I II’, noon being marked with a Tudor rose.
The gnomon is a thin sheet, probably brass, pierced to leave a broad horizontal support.
