Sundials are the most ancient and natural method of telling the time. Our ancestors will have noted the shadow of the sun by a stick placed in the earth as it lengthened and shortened during the day allowing perhaps some organisation of the day’s chores.This basic need to measure time has created ever more sophisticated time keeping mechanisms but sundials still have a lot to offer in terms of an interesting practical time piece and a focal point in any landscape.
There are many types and designs of sundial but all share a few basic rules. With the crescent sundial made by DASH the gnomon, a rod that creates the shadow, needs to be pointing at true north and angled, within reason, at the same latitude as the location of the sundial. This means the gnomon is aligned to the earth’s rotational axis and points towards Polaris the North Star.
The gnomon will cast a shadow over what is known as the dial plate which is divided into hourly increments and can be further subdivided to indicate a more accurate time. At this stage it is important for us to understand the rhythm of mother earth which rotates around its axis once per day. The human race has divided the day into twenty-four hours with one rotation being 360 degrees. Therefore one hour equates to fifteen degrees. The dial plate can be calibrated in equal fifteen-degree segments highlighting the time of day.
A crescent sundial is a peer amongst sundials being traditionally well engineered and using a wire or thin rod to cast a shadow on the dial plate allowing a remarkably accurate indication of time. Indeed, sundials could be made to be so accurate that the French railway still used sundials to calibrate train workers watches as late as 1900.
The Romans were the first to use sundials within a garden or ornamental landscape setting and although we do not rely on sundials to organize our busy modern lives a sundial is a fitting addition and focal point to any garden or outdoor space.