KNOWI.I.DC.i:. 



Ai'Rii.. l'M2. 



t)cst possible cvidL-ncc tliat tlic Saxoii dials itrc 

 sun-iiials is afforded In the (".ruat lulstonc, 

 Swardcston. Kirkdalc (i'if,'urcs 1J(). K58, 141), and 

 Markft Decpirif; dials. In the majority of instances 

 one finds simply a tliiil. i.e.. the dial without 

 inscription or ti;L;iires ; hut the two former liax'e 

 an inscription (indisputahly contemporaneous with 

 the dials), and both of the latter have fifitirea 

 denotinj; the hours. In the centre jianel of the 

 Kirkdale dial the inscription (translated) tells us, 

 "This is Day's Sunmarker at every Tide," and that 

 (translated) on the (ireat Hdstone dial (a sketch 



The term " Orientation " previously referred to is 

 frecpieiitly misunderstood. It is very usual to say 

 " Churches are built Kast and West " but 

 comparatively few persons know that very few are 

 due iiast, and that there is generally quite sufficient 

 variation to make the adjustment of the markings of 

 a sun-dial necessary. The variation is caused in 

 this way : — The foundations of a church are laid 

 according to the position of the sun on the patronal 

 feast ; therefore a church dedicated to, say, St. John 

 the Bajjtist (June 24th) is not in exactly the same 

 position with regard to East and West as one 





FiGruK 151. 



The " mark " of a mason liviiiy 

 Norwich. 



of which was verv kindh' sent h\ the Rector) describes 

 it as the " Clock of Travellers." In instances — of 

 which there are many — where the radii cannot be 

 assigned to an\' known notation of time, ecclesiastical 

 (c'.j^.. the canonical hours) or secular, the explan- 

 ation will probably be that they are due to the 

 " Reformers." 



The finding of Saxon dials wliicli haw no 

 hole (and obviously never had one) for fixing 

 a gnomon has been claimed as convincing proof 

 that they are not SH/i-dials; but Mr. Arthur 

 Bentley's "conjectural method of fixing the 

 gnomon " (Figure 146), which is reproduced b\- his 

 kind permission, has most effectualK' explained tliat 

 difficulty. 



It is interesting to notice how easily Figures 

 142-145 may be mistaken for Figure 140, as 

 all three examples are very much weathered, 

 and a casual observer would probably notice 

 l^ractically no difference. Figure 140 is one of 

 the Tacolneston dials. Figure 142 is a conse- 

 cration cross (.All Saints', Norwich), and Figure 

 145 is a mason's mark (Claxton). 



Figure 152. Another "mark" of a mason living 

 in Norwich. 



dedicated to, say, St. .\ndrew (November 30th) — and 

 this divergence has to be allowed for when marking 

 the lines upon the sun-dial. 



Sexton's Wheels (which have been unaccountably 

 confused with Saxon dials) are portable articles, 

 and only two specimens are known to exist — -at 

 Long Stratton and Yaxley, both in the diocese of 

 Norwich. The}' have no connection either in form 

 or use with sun-dials and a very interesting 

 illustrated description of them will be found in 

 "Norfolk .Archeology," Vol. IX, 1881. 



The authors are greatly indebted to the large 

 number of persons who have not onlv corresponded 

 but have gone to considerable trouble in making 

 rubbings, sketches, and so on ; especially to .Mr. 

 R. H. Flood (who lent a \cry large number of 

 interesting rubbings), and to Mr. .Arthur F. C. 

 Bentley (who most kindly made and presented 

 practical models of four primitive sun-dials — set 

 out for the latitude of Horstead, in Norfolk — 

 and whose " conjectural method of fixing the 

 gnomon " helped them out of what undoubtedly 

 proved one of their greatest difficulties). 



