St Mark’s Church, Longwood, Huddersfield

The arch at the head of this dial is inscribed ’Benj Hanson et Joseph Sayles Refec : 1829 / 1921 : Refec : 1993 / Lat 53 37 Long 25 35 West’. The three restorations introduced some errors as Joseph was originally Sykes, and the ’Long’ figure was 26 15 West. This figure is what is known as the ’Plane’s Longitude’, the longitude where it is noon when the gnomon casts no shadow to either side. The substyle (the line of the gnomon) lies at 1:45pm, indicated by a marker in the chapter ring, and this is consistent with a dial facing 22° west of south. The church wall faces about 15° west of south, which suggests that the dial may have originally been located elsewhere, and indeed the dial does predate the church, and is canted out a few degrees on the right hand side to face as it did in its original location. In the body of the dial is ’Jof. Miller fecit / 1749’. The numerals are aligned to the hour lines and are VIII - XII - IIII - VII, divided in the chapter ring to 30, 15 and 5 minutes. The gnomon is a square section bar with an ’S’ shaped support.