Sundials

All this sunshine is perfect for telling the time by a 'Sundial'.  I've always been fascinated by sundials, reading the time by a shadow cast onto displayed numerals and have fond memories of when very young, in my grandmother's garden, clambering up onto a stone sundial, which was taller than me, excited by what magic I would find at the top. The dial was made of lead which was warmed by the sun and I searched for the shadow, then rushed inside to see if it was right.

Now I am enjoying making them - though my part is in carving the stone, and then insetting this lovely dial from 1760 which is cast in brass, with two flighty gargoyle type birds, with the inscription 'Tyme Flyes'.

This 'Mini' dial has a lovely smiley sun face at the centre, and 'Sun's Tyme' written at the base, which it tells it perfectly.

There is lots of information about the science of how sundials work, and the history of sundials, with beautiful examples, at The British Sundial Society.