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 sundial , as the name implies, has its dial mounted vertically, usually on the wall of a building. in distinction to a horizontal dial which has its dial plate placed horizontally, either on the ground or on a pedestal.
  Geographical location Dial Type
Vertical		 Latitude/Longitude
52°01'N 1°46'W
St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Blockley
 Photo By
P. E. Walker 		British Grid Reference
SP 164 349

St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Blockley

Blockley is a Gloucestershire village in the Cotswolds. Its church, built in the warm stone colour traditional in the Cotswolds, has, above the door of the south porch, a vertical sundial. It is carved in stone, with a iron gnomon which is slightly west by south, roughly towards the XI hour line. The sundial itself is quite plain and it is the inscription above which is more interesting.

 

 

 
The inscription reads:
WILLIAM DIDE THOMAS WIDDOWES CHURCHWARDENS ANNO 1630
so this sundial is quite old in English standards.

To the left is a carving of a pair of dividers, a tool of a stone mason. Often it is also the sign of Freemasons and I wonder whether this is significant.
HomeIndex Back
[Allan Taylor]