Sundial Photo - Benthall Church Photo 1

	Geographical location	Dial Type Vertical	Latitude/Longitude 52° 37'N 2°30'W
	St. Bartholew's Church, Benthall	Photo By P. E. Walker	British Grid Reference SJ 657 025

The gnomon is the part of a sundial which casts the sun's shadow onto the dial plate, which is inscribed with the hourlines. In most sundials, the gnomon consists of a rod, or the side of a triangle, running parallel to the Earth's axis and pointing to the celestial pole.

A vertical declining sundial , as the name implies, has its dial mounted vertically, usually on the wall of a building. When the wall does not face due south, the gnomon has to be position at an acute angle to the wall to compensate. such dials are known as 'declining'.

		Benthall Parish Church, near Ironbridge, Shropshire Benthall Church stands close to Benthall Hall,seen in the background, high on the southern bank of the Severn Gorge, not far from Ironbridge. The church is unusual in that it was built during the Commonwealth, and also in that it has an interesting vertical declining sundial on its south wall. The dial has recently been restored. Click here for a closer view.