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Dial of the Month July 2015:
St Mary Arden Churchyard, Market Harborough, SRN 3255

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This dial is on the headstone of Samuel Turner, which he designed himself.  He died in 1784, aged 67.  An inscription describes the man: “His occupation a shepherd, his amusements were the beautiful scenes of nature, his retirements the study of surveying, dialing, engraving &c”  On either side of the direct east dial are carved a map of a farm, surveying instruments (compasses, ruler and protractor), two sheep, and an image of Samuel with palette in hand painting a picture of a farm house.  For a full description see Roger Bowling’s article in Bulletin 23(ii), June 2009.

 

Newsletter No. 76 – June 2015

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CHAIRMAN

It was splendid to see all of you who attended the Nottingham conference. Chris Lusby Taylor is to be congratulated and thanked for his third conference. Recognising that three years is a long enough stint for anyone, several proposals were made at the conference and several volunteers came forward and, as with the editorial role, the conference role has now evolved into a team. The 2016 team has got off to a flying start and you will see elsewhere in this Newsletter that they have announced both a date and a venue.

I am delighted to note that David Pawley has once again arranged the annual meeting in Newbury which, this year will be on Saturday 26 September. Please put this date in your diaries.

I must also take this opportunity to thank Nick Orders for serving as our Librarian for several years and to welcome our new Librarian John Wilson. He is a recent BSS joiner but he has been a member of the Nottingham Subscription Library for some years and is very familiar with its organisation.

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Dial of the Month June 2015:
Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, SRN 1490

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Known as Queen Mary’s Dial, this has been called the finest example of its facet head class. It takes the form of a sandstone prism standing on its point, with 20 triangular facets elaborately carved with coats of arms and monograms of King Charles I and his Queen Henrietta Maria.  There are various bowl, heart and triangular sinkings with dials.  In some the gnomon is the nose of a carved face, in others it is an open fret worked metal plate.  The top of the pedestal is an inverted hemisphere above a square column decorated with acanthus leaves and mounted on three high spreading octagonal steps.

The steps are probably later than the dial, which is dated 1633 and was made for the Scottish Coronation of Charles I by John Mylne III, Master Mason to the King.  Royal Accounts show that it cost £408 15s 6d (Scots) plus further charges for painting and gilding, illustrating that at the time it was customary to paint these stone sculptures.

BSS Bulletin Vol. 27(ii) June 2015

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The June edition of the BSS Bulletin will be delivered to members shortly. For those who can’t wait, or for non-members who want to see what they are missing, a sample article by Geoffrey Lane about the Pewterer’s Hall glass sundial is available now.

Contents

1. Editorial

2. The Chetwode Quadrant: A Medieval Unequal-Hour Instrument – John Davis

6. New Dials (1): A Horizontal Stereographic Projection Dial for South Africa – Malcolm Barnfield

7. 24-Hour Sundial in the Shadow of the Moon – Martins Gills

7. Total Eclipse 2015 – Douglas Bateman

8. In the Footsteps of Thomas Ross: Part 11. The Dyallis of William Aytoun – Dennis Cowan

15. Re-Imagining the Pewterers’ Glass Sundial – Geoffrey Lane

17. English Pottery Sundial Picture – Malcolm Barnfield

18. Who Made these Ivory Diptych Dials? – Mike Cowham

20. Mike Groom—Obituary – Ben Jones

21. Setting the Bead on an Horary Quadrant Without a Date Scale – Frank H. King

21. The Eclipse as Seen in Fife – Dennis Cowan

22. Anton Schmitz – Bildhauermeister; Or, how a young German soldier eventually joined the British Sundial Society – Douglas Bateman and Ursula Schmitz

28. A Proposed Heliochronometer – Alan Mitchell

30. New Dials (2): Armillary Dial in Eire – Mark Lennox-Boyd

31. Sundial Discoveries in India and Sri Lanka – Martin Jenkins

35. New Book – Bonnin

36. Restoration of the Hole Park Sundial – Brad Dillon

37. The Hole Park Dial, Unrestored – John Davis

38. Newly Reported Dials, 2014 – John Foad

41. BSS Annual Conference: Nottingham, 10–12 April 2015 – Geoff Parsons, John Lester, Irene Brightmer and Frank Coe

45. Minutes of the 26th BSS Annual General Meeting

46. Trustees’ Annual Report

48. BSS Accounts for the Period 7 February to 31 December 2014

Hold the date: 15th to 17th April 2016 – BSS Conference, Liverpool

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Arrangements are already well in hand for our next Conference.

The 2016 Conference will be organised and administered by a team comprising Doug Bateman, Mike Shaw, Bill Visick, Chris and Liz Williams.

Please mark and reserve 15 -17 April 2016 firmly and prominently in your diaries! The conference will follow the traditional Friday afternoon to Sunday luncheon format.

Liverpool, and its environs, is a location not yet visited by the Society’s Conference. The venue has been booked: Jurys Inn in the redeveloped docks area. There is much to see and do beyond dialling; members may well wish to consider extending their stay. Some initial information about the location is available here and will be expanded over time.

Booking forms, and a call for papers and exhibits, will be issued early in September – with the Newsletter and Bulletin and on the website.

2016 Conference Team

2016 BSS Conference – Liverpool – 15th-17th April 2016

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The 2016 BSS Conference will be held in Liverpool from Friday 15th. to Sunday 17th. April. More details will be provided over the forthcoming months but, to whet your appetites, some initial information is provided here.

Accommodation will be at Jurys Inn in the Albert Dock area:

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