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Buying a sundial Do you have any Stockist where we can see your sundials? No. We do not use stockists. Sometime ago we did supply a number of garden centres but we found that they carried far too many products to be able to talk about sundials so we no longer use stockists. We offer a full money back guarantee on all our standard sundials – if it is not what you want or expected just return it within 7 days in the original packaging and we will refund the cost of the dial. If you want to visit us, we have a small display area in our workshop where our whole range is displayed along with suitable plinths and pedestals. Our workshop is about 10 miles outside Taunton, which is at junction 25 on the M5 between Bristol and Exeter. Please ring before visiting as I am often out making deliveries. Do you have a showroom? Yes, in our workshop. Our workshop is about 10 miles outside Taunton, which is at junction 25 on the M5 between Bristol and Exeter. Please ring before visiting as I am often out making deliveries. What Plinths or Pedestals should I buy? Our sundials are suitable for any plinth or pedestal (the names are interchangeable). You need to make sure that the top of the plinth is an inch or so wider than the size of the dial base – measurements are shown in the data section of each dial. I would suggest that you buy the sundial first and then take it round to garden centres, stonemasons, plinth manufactures and quarries. Do you supply plinths in Granite? We do not offer any granite plinths but these are available from quarries. Can I buy a plinth used in the photos on your website? Many of the sundials photos in both the website and brochure were taken by customers on plinths they have sourced elsewhere. As I don't know where these were bought, I cannot supply these plinths. Are plinths included? The prices of our sundials do not include the plinths they were photographed on. I can offer a selection of suitable plinths and pedestals – Click to see my selection. Top of page Do you have a brochure? Yes - please ring or email for our full colour brochure and price list. If you have a problem downloading this please ring and I can put a copy in the post Do you issue a Newsletter? I issue a periodic newsletter about our sundials with details of any new dials or plinths that we have added to our website. Sign up here. Do you issue an Order Acknowledgement? Yes. We will send you an order acknowledgment and this should be followed by further acknowledgments if there are any changes to your order. When we know Parcel Force's tracking number we will advise you of this and the intended delivery date. Order placed by email, post or over the phone will only be acknowledged if it is not going to be completed within a couple of days. Do you supply sundials for Anniversaries? Any of my sundials will make a stunning and memorable anniversary gift, which can be personalised with an engraving of your choice. That engraving can be on the dial in the case of the Andromeda, Phoenix and Zodiac sundials as well as the Spot On Brass, the small Wall Mounted and most of my armillary sundials. The remaining sundials can be personalised with the addition of an engraved brass plaque or plate Top of page Will a sundial make a good Retirement gift? Any of my sundials will make a stunning and memorable retirement gift, which can be personalised with an engraving of your choice. That engraving can be on the dial in the case of the Andromeda, Phoenix and Zodiac sundials as well as the Spot On Brass, the small Wall Mounted and most of my armillary sundials. The remaining sundials can be personalised with the addition of an engraved brass plaque or plate. Will a sundial make a good Birthday gift? Any of my sundials will make a stunning and memorable birthday gift, which can be personalised with an engraving of your choice. That engraving can be on the dial in the case of the Andromeda, Phoenix and Zodiac sundials as well as the Spot On Brass, the small Wall Mounted and most of my armillary sundials. The remaining sundials can be personalised with the addition of an engraved brass plaque or plate. Will a sundial make a good Wedding present? Any of my sundials will make a stunning and memorable wedding present, which can be personalised with an engraving of your choice. That engraving can be on the dial in the case of the Andromeda, Phoenix and Zodiac sundials as well as the Spot On Brass, the small Wall Mounted and most of my armillary sundials. The remaining sundials can be personalised with the addition of an engraved brass plaque or plate. Will a sundial make a good Christening gift? Any of my sundials will make a stunning and memorable christening gift, which can be personalised with an engraving of your choice. That engraving can be on the dial in the case of the Andromeda , Phoenix and Zodiac sundials as well as the Spot On Brass, the small Wall Mounted and most of my armillary sundials. The remaining sundials can be personalised with the addition of an engraved brass plaque or plate. I want to give a sundial as a Surprise gift If you are buying a sundial as a surprise gift let us know and we will take extra care in processing your order and keeping it confidential. Our packaging does not have any indication about the contents or whom it is from although the Parcel Force label does have Courtyard Sundials on it in very small print. It will not be so easy to keep delivery of a plinth secret so you might like to have this delivered to a neighbour or your office. The checkout page on our website allows you to enter a different delivery address Top of page Do you make bespoke dials? If you cannot see the design, size, material or shape you want on our website please ring to discuss your requirements. We are happy to quote for a bespoke dial to your design. Prices will be not necessarily be much higher than the "off the shelf" dials on our website. Why such price variations? Our Ptolemy Celeste sundials are hand made to order where as our other sundials are cast and therefore require substantially less labour. What are the different Dial Types? There are many different types of sundials including Analemmatic dials. Conical or Scaphe dials, Cylindrical or pole sundials, Digital sundials, Ring dials, universal dials, Polar dials and reflected ceiling dials. Only wall mounted, flat or armillary (also know as equatorial dials) are suitable for gardens. If you want to know more about these different sundials they are many sites on the web that discuss these. What is a Gnomon? The gnomon is the upright part of the sundial, which casts the shadow; the arrow shaft in the case of our armillary dials. It is derived from the Greek word meaning indicator; the g is silent, so it is pronounced "no-mon" with the first o long. How accurate are your sundials? My sundials are best regarded as garden ornaments that will tell the passing of time. In between the hours the shadow from the gnomon will fall somewhere between the marking on the dial. You have to guess whether it is 10 past or 20 minutes past the hour so there is likely to be an inherent inaccuracy in your guess. The larger the dial the more space there is between the hours and on many of my dials there are quarter and half hour makings. The time on these dials will therefore be more accurate than dials which only have the hours marked. At the start and end of the day, when the sun is low on the horizon, the angle of the sun is such that all but the most sophisticated (and therefore expensive) sundials will have a measure of inaccuracy. The most accurate sundial we supply is the Spot On Brass. Not only is this marked off in 5 minute intervals but the main feature of the Spot-On Sundial is the split gnomon constructed of two parallel plates with a small gap through which a ray of sunshine will pass a few minutes either side of solar noon. Top of page Ashes – can I store a casket or urn with ashes? Yes. Our Tudor plinths, the Georgian and the Tuscan pedestal are hollow so a casket or urn could be sealed inside. The internal measurements available are Tudor 30" (Square) 7" x 7" x 18" (18cm x 18cm x 56cm)
Tudor 17" (Square) 7" x 7" x 9" (18cm x 18cm x 23cm) Click to see.
Georgian (Round) 4 1/4" x 18" (11cm x 46cm
Tuscan (Round) 6" x 24" (15cm x 61cm)
To keep the urn dry, the plinth should be weatherproofed with something like AquaSeal. Your local DIY store will be able to advise you on a suitable product. Do you supply Gift Vouchers? If you want to give a sundial s a gift but are not sure which one to buy why not give a Gift Voucher. These are available from £25 in increments of £5 - ring us on 01984 629242. Finish, Ageing, Cleaning, Maintenance What is an artificial patina? When brass or copper is exposed to the weather, a chemical reaction occurs which ages or darkens the base metal. Brass, which is made from copper and zinc, tends to develop a bluey green coating, which adds an antique looking finish. Some of our dials are coated with an artificial patina, which will rapidly darken down when exposed to our weather. The advantage of a patina finish is that it makes that part of the dial darker than the polished parts. This means that the roman numerals (which are polished) stand out from the background with the artificial patina Top of page What is Verdigris? See artificial patina –the words are effectively interchangeable How will my sundial weather? Brass, once exposed to our weather, will rapidly darken down. Initially the finish might appear a little blotchy but given time, the whole dial will darken down to the same antique colour. Slate and stainless steel are virtually weather resistance and should retain their original finish. Are your sundials weatherproof? I have spent many years at sea, where brass fittings are common and impervious to the effects of salt spray. Similarly stainless steel will not suffer and slate, being a natural material will not deteriorate when exposed to our weather. Cleaning my dial Use warm water with a mild washing up liquid. You could polish a brass sundial with something like brasso but the finish will rapidly lose its sheen What Maintenance is needed? Sundials do not require any maintenance. They will darken down in the course of time and the brass ones develop a deep antique colour. Are your sundials lacquered? No. You can lacquer your sundial to give it some protection from the weather but lacquer tends to crack in the summer and this spoils the look. You could try spaying the dial with WD40 to give it some protection from exposure to the air. Top of page How can I age my sundial? We have not tried either of these but folklore has it that if you cover your brass dial with manure or yoghurt – not the pasteurised type – it will age and darken down your brass sundials. If you try this, please let us know the results. A more modern and trusted way is to use Tourmaline Antiquing fluid, which can be obtained from www.axminster.co.uk/product-Liberon-Antiquing-Fluid-Tourmaline-23517.htm. I live close to the sea None of my sundials will suffer if you are close to the sea. I have spent many years at sea, where brass fittings are common and impervious to the effects of salt spray. Similarly, stainless steel will not suffer and slate, being a natural material, is resistant to the effects of our weather. Will my sundial rust? No. When exposed to the elements brass will darken down, this maybe irregular to start with and those patches could be confused with rust. It is not. Just leave the weather to its course and the whole dial will eventually darken down to the same attractive antiquey finish. Materials, Weight, Thickness What materials are your dials made of? My sundials are made from brass, stainless steel or slate all of which will stand up to our weather. We have been asked about steel and metal sundials but these do not suit themselves to our designs. We have seen few sundials made of wrought iron by blacksmiths but they tend to be very chunky and not so accurate. If you want a metal sundial, contact blacksmiths local to you. Lead sundials were once very common but nowadays are rare. If you are interested in a lead sundial, please contact me. Top of page Do you supply lead sundials? We occasionally come across lead sundials – please ring if you are interested in acquiring a lead sundial. How thick are your sundials? I am often asked how thick my sundials are. I have spent a lot of my life at sea and learned early on to over engineer everything. This trait has never left me and my sundials are probably a lot more substantial than they need be. However, I have seen sundials in garden centre made of thin sheet metal. I would guess that they would rust rapidly and cease to be attractive after a couple of years. How heavy are your sundials? The weight of each sundial is shown in both pounds and kilograms. The armillaries range from 5 pounds (2.3kg) up to 15 pounds (7kg). The flat brass sundials weight from 1 pound (0.6kg) up to 7 pounds (3kg). The slate dials are substantially heavier weighting around 7 pounds (5kg). Because of their weight, sundials are not cheap to deliver but, if you order online, I will pay for delivery anywhere in the UK Mainland saving you up to £35. If you want your sundial delivered overseas the cost can be quite substantial because of the weight and size. Let me know where you want your dial delivered and I will give you a shipping price. Often shipping it flat packed will reduce the cost – full instructions on assembling are provided and will only take you a couple of minutes. Can I take a sundial on a plane? If you want to carry it as baggage on an airline, we can supply most of our dials flat packed to reduce the size of the package - full instructions on assembling are provided and will only take you a couple of minutes. Please call for further information Top of page Positioning, Moving House How do I position & set up a Flat Sundial Full instructions on setting up your sundial are supplied with it. You need to place your sundial in an open sunny space, mounted on a firm plinth or pedestal with the top of the plinth as near horizontal as possible. Set your sundial on top, with the upright (this is the gnomon) pointing roughly north; at noon the sun is due south so stand with your back to the sun and point the arrow away from you. Wait until your wristwatch is about to show 12 o'clock midday. Turn the dial until the shadow from the upright (known as the gnomon) cuts the 12 hour on the dial plate. In the summer this will be 1 hour ahead of "real" time but as the dial is only likely to be used in the summer the difference should be acceptable. If you are setting your sundial up in the winter, when clock and solar time are the same, set the dial up so that the shadow from the gnomon is over 12 o'clock when your watch says 11 o'clock. When we advance our time by one hour in the summer, the sundial will show British Summer Time. The dial is best fixed to the plinth with an epoxy glue like No Nails Exterior or GripFix. Alternatively, a brass sundial can be fixed using screws and raw plugs (not supplied) but do not fix these until you have aligned the dial as explained below. You may need to drill holes in the base plate, being brass and a soft metal this can be drilled relatively easily. Do not try drilling through a slate sundial; it is too easy to crack these. Glue these to the plinth with Gripfix or No Nails (Exterior) See below for instructions on the Spot On Brass sundial How do I set up a Spot On sundial? Full instructions on setting up your sundial are supplied with it. You need to place your Spot On sundial in an open sunny space, mounted on a firm plinth or pedestal with the top of the plinth as near horizontal as possible. Set your sundial on top, with the upright (this is the gnomon) pointing roughly north; at noon the sun is due south so stand with your back to the sun and point the arrow away from you. Use the black security key to undo the screw in the centre of the dial. Mount the base plate on the plinth and drill 4 holes in the plinth inline with the holes in the base plate. Set rawlplugs in to the plinth and then screw down the base plate. Loosely screw down the hour plate to the base plate and then wait until your watch shows midday. You will see a slice of light through the slit in the gnomon, turn the dial top until this line light is over 1 o'clock on the outer ring of numbers, which shows solar time. That will be over 12 o'clock on the inner ring of roman numerals, which shows British Summer Time. Now use the security key to lock down the top plate. Top of page How do I position & set up an Armillary Sundial Full instructions on setting up your sundial are supplied with it. You need to place your armillary sundial in an open sunny space, mounted on a firm plinth or pedestal with the top of the plinth as near horizontal as possible. Set your sundial on top, with the arrowhead (this is the gnomon) pointing roughly north; at noon the sun is due south so stand with your back to the sun and point the arrow away from you. Wait until your wristwatch is about to show 12 o'clock midday. Turn the dial until the shadow from the arrow shaft (known as the gnomon) cuts that 12 hour on the dial plate. In the summer this will be 1 hour ahead of "real" time but as the dial is only likely to be used in the summer the difference should be acceptable. If you are setting your sundial up in the winter, when clock and solar time are the same, set the dial up so that the shadow from the gnomon is over 12 o'clock when your watch says 11 o'clock. When we advance our time by one hour in the summer, the sundial will show British Summer Time. The dial is best fixed to the plinth with an epoxy glue or something like No Nails Exterior. The bell of our armillaries is hollow so this can be filled with a sand and cement mix and allowed to adhere to the plinth top. Alternatively, you can drill through the flange of the bell and fix this to the base using screws and rawlplugs. The Ptolemy Celeste is supplied with bolts that are set inside the bell at the bottom. Drill a hole in the centre of the dial and fill this with araldite. Drop the bolt in this hole and set the sundial as described above and leave it to set. You can use the same principle on the rest of our armillary sundials, except the Galileo. You need to buy an M8 1.25 bolt and screw this in to the thread inside the bell. Then drill a hole in the centre of the plinth and fill this with araldite. How do I position a Wall Mounted sundial? Wall mounted sundials need to be on a south facing wall and will only be truly accurate if they have been individually made for the exact location they are going to be used. Our budget range wall mounted sundials from £30 make an attractive feature and will tell the passing of time but if they are not facing exactly south they will not be accurate. We can quote for a bespoke wall mounted dial – please call or email me. Top of page Does a wall-mounted sundial have to face due south? Yes. But as our "off the shelf" dials are best described as garden ornaments that tell the passing of time the fact that you wall doesn't face exactly south will not make a significant difference to their accuracy. We can quote for a bespoke wall mounted dial – please call or email me. How crucial is the Latitude? Not too crucial. A margin of around 100 miles north or south of your location will not make a significant difference to the accuracy. Does my longitude matter? No. The latitude determines the way the dial is designed, not the longitude. What if I move house? If you move house (more than 100 miles north or south) and want to take your sundial with you it will need to be set up for the latitude of your new location. Most of our armillaries (except the Ptolemy Celeste and Penthouse Crescent) have a variable latitude setting. You need to find the latitude of your new house and then set the gnomon (the diagonal arrow shaft) to that angle from the horizontal. The latitude cannot be changed on any of other sundials but unless you are moving several hundred miles from your original location, it should work with reasonable accuracy at the new location I have lost your setting up instructions? Our setting up instructions are available on this website – see setting up your sundial. Can I mount my sundial on a tree stump? Any of our sundials can be affixed to the top of a tree stump Top of page Delivery Where will you deliver to? All our prices include delivery to the UK Mainland. That includes Wales, most of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Wight. Delivery to the Scottish Highlands, Scottish Isles, Isles of Sicily, Isle of Man, the Channel Isles as well as Eire or overseas may incur an additional charge in the case of a sundial. If you require a plinth delivered to any of these places there will be an extra charge - please ring or email with the delivery address and I will give you a price How long to deliver a sundial? Most of my sundials are available from stock and will be delivered within 2 to 3 days of your order. I use Parcel Force's 48-hour delivery service for my sundials so you can track the process of your delivery through their website www.parcelforce.co.uk. Our order acknowledgement will include the tracking number. Two to three day delivery is not available on the Ptolemy Celeste, Penthouse Crescent, Phoenix, Zodiac and (if engraved) the Andromeda sundials. We normally require 14 to 21 days to complete these but sometimes miracles are possible so please ring. Can you deliver to a different Delivery Address? Your sundial can be delivered to any address in the UK, for instance your office or a friend or neighbour; if no one is available to receive the parcel a card will be left with the telephone number of your local depot. You can contact them to arrange a re delivery. The 48-hour service does not include Insurance; if you require insurance please ring me. I want to send a Surprise Gift Our packaging does not have any indication about the contents or whom it is from although the Parcel Force label does have Courtyard Sundials on it in very small print. It will not be so easy to keep delivery of a plinth secret so you might like to have this delivered to a neighbour or your office. The checkout page on our website allows you to enter a different delivery address. Do you offer Next Day Delivery? I can offer next (working) day delivery of any sundial to the UK Mainland for an additional £10. I need to receive your order by 12am on the previous day. Next day means the next working day so orders received on Friday will not be delivered until the following Monday. If you require Next Day delivery please ring me on 01984 629242. I cannot offer next day delivery on plinths and engravings normally require a couple of days to complete – but please ring, miracles are sometimes possible. Top of page Do you offer Saturday delivery? Parcel Force offer a Saturday AM delivery service for sundials for an extra £30. I need to receive your order by 12am on the Friday. If you require Saturday delivery please ring me on 01984 629242. I cannot offer Saturday delivery on plinths and engravings normally require a couple of days to complete – but please ring, miracles are sometimes possible. Do you deliver Overseas including Eire? I can ship my sundials anywhere in the world but most are designed for Europe, the USA and Canada. To keep down delivery costs most of these are sent "flat-packed". Assembly takes a couple of minutes and only requires a screwdriver – full instructions are supplied. Please call for a shipping price. If you live in the southern hemisphere including Australia, South America or southern Africa pleases ring or email for suitable model. How are Plinths or Pedestals delivered? We do not hold stock of plinths so these will be delivered separately to the sundial by a different courier. Therefore, we are not able to coordinate delivery of the sundial and plinth. And as the setting up of the sundial is specific to the location it is going to be used, we are not ale to fix the sundial or brass plaque (if ordered) to the plinth. Our instruction sheets describe in full how to set up both the sundial and the plinth. Delivery is normally 14 days from order and is to your kerbside. The courier will usually ring to arrange a mutually convenient date. Most of the plinths that cannot be moved easily by one-person come in two or more parts to facilitate movement and assembling these are self-evident. Our plinth prices include delivery to the UK Mainland. That includes Wales, most of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Wight. Delivery to the Scottish Highlands, Scottish Isles, Isles of Sicily, Isle of Man, the Channel Isle as well as Eire or overseas will incur an additional charge. What if my order is not delivered. To check on delivery of your sundial use the Parcel Force website (www.ParcelForce.co.uk) to track the whereabouts of your dial. If the engraved plaque, top band or plinth seems to have gone astray please ring me on 01984 629242 and I will endeavour to track them. Top of page Breakages – what should I do. If your sundial is damaged in transit – very rarely the gnomon shaft is broken and the arrow head or tail has sheared off – please send back the shaft, head and tail to me and I will get a replacement off by return of post. Damaged plinths should be reported to the courier. Returns – how are they handled? If you are not satisfied with the sundial return it, in the original packaging, within 7 days and I will refund the cost of the sundial. Alternatively I will send a different sundial to replace it and make any necessary price adjustment. This guarantee does not apply to engraving or plinths. Can you supply a sundial flat packed If you want to take your sundial with you and want to keep the size down we can supply most of our dials flat packed – please ring me on 01984 629242 Can you collect from us You are welcome to collect your sundial from our workshop. Our workshop is about 10 miles outside Taunton, which is at junction 25 on the M5 between Bristol and Exeter. Please ring before visiting as I am often out making deliveries. Top of page Overseas Orders & Deliveries Do you deliver overseas? Yes. I can ship my sundials anywhere in the world but most are designed for Europe, the USA and Canada. If you live too close to the equator, my sundials will not work. To keep overseas delivery costs down most of these can be sent "flat-packed". Assembly takes a couple of minutes and only requires a screwdriver – full instructions are supplied. Please call for a shipping price. Will your sundials work in the Southern Hemisphere? Our sundials are predominantly designed for use in the Northern hemisphere – that is most places north of the equator so the UK, Europe, the USA, Canada, Asia and the Far East. If you live close to the equator, the dial might not work – please ring or email with your nearest city and we will advise you on the suitability of our sundials Our Andromeda, Phoenix, Zodiac and Spot On Brass sundials can be engineered for the Southern hemisphere – that includes Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Southern America. Please ring or email with your nearest city and we will advise you on the suitability of our sundials and a price Payment, Accounts, VAT Is VAT included? All my prices include VAT, if you require a VAT Invoice please let me know Can I open a Trade Accounts? If you want to open a trade account please give me a ring on 01984 629242 when we can discuss terms. Top of page Do you supply Schools? We are happy to accept Purchase Orders from Schools, Government or Local Authorities. Payment is required 30 days after the date of our invoice Do you supply Government bodies? We are happy to accept Purchase Orders from Schools, Government or Local Authorities. Payment is required 30 days after the date of our invoice Do you supply Local Authorities? We are happy to accept Purchase Orders from Schools, Government or Local Authorities. Payment is required 30 days after the date of our invoice Can I get a Refund? If you are not satisfied with the sundial return it, in the original packaging, within 7 days and I will refund the cost of the sundial. Alternatively, I will send a different sundial to replace it and make any necessary price adjustment. This guarantee does not apply to engraving or plinths. Do you accept Last Minute Orders? Last minutes orders are always welcome and we pride ourselves on a speedy response and delivery. If your order is urgent please ring me on 01984 629242 and I will see if I can work a miracle. Can you handle Urgent deliveries? Last minutes orders are always welcome and we pride ourselves on a speedy response and delivery. If your order is urgent please ring me on 01984 629242 and I will see if I can work a miracle. Top of page Can you supply Overseas? I can ship my sundials anywhere in the world but as they are both heavy and bulky, costs can vary between £30 and over £100. Please email or ring me to discuss your requirements. Engravings How many characters can I have engraved? The number of characters allowed on our engraving is the recommended maximums. Exceeding this will mean that the text becomes cramped. If you want more than the quoted maximum, please ring me to discuss. In the case of the small Wall Mounted and the Spot On Brass there is only limited space so the maximum cannot be exceed by too many characters. We count spaces and punctuation marks as characters What font is the engraving in? Our standard font is an engraver's form of Times New Roman, which is similar to Garamond. If you require a different font, please ring to discuss, there maybe a small additional charge. Can you engrave in a foreign language? We can engrave in many different languages – please email me with details of what you require, there may be an additional charge Can I specify the layout of my engraving? Our engraver is well skilled in laying out engravings but if you have a particular requirement please email me with details of what you require, there may be an additional charge. What shape/finish is the brass plaque supplied in? We will normally supply a brass plate or plaque to a size to fit your engraving. These will be square and not pre-drilled (we do not know where and how you intend to fix the plaque). If you have a particular requirement please email me with details of what you require, there may be an additional charge. Top of page Can you engrave a Coat of arms? We can engrave a Coat of Arms or Company Logo on a brass plaque as well as our Phoenix sundials – 8, 10 or 12" diameter. Please email me with an EPS file of the image Can you engrave a Company Logo? We can engrave a Coat of Arms or Company Logo on a brass plaque as well as our Phoenix sundials – 8, 10 or 12" diameter. Please email me with an EPS file of the image. What if there is a mistake in the engraving? We would prefer if you emailed or posted the exact wording of a dedication or motto. If you dictate the wording over the phone we will send an acknowledgement of order but cannot be responsible for any errors if you do not let us know of an error by return Miscellaneous What about British Summer Time (BST)? In the summer, once we put our clocks forward, your watch will show the time one hour ahead of the time by the sun – solar time. As you are in the garden more in the summer than the winter we would suggest you set your dial up to show BST. So at midday by your watch set the dial up so that the shadow is at 12 o'clock on the dial. When the clocks go back, an hour at the start of the winter the sundial will be exactly one hour out. If you are setting your sundial up in the winter, when clock and solar time are the same, set the dial up so that the shadow from the gnomon is over 12 o'clock when your watch says 11 o'clock. When we advance our time by one hour in the summer, the sundial will show British Summer Time. What about Mid Summers Day? This is around June 24th and it is when the sun is directly overhead us at solar noon. Because of BST that will be 1 o'clock by your watch. Ideally, you should set your sundial up on Mid Summer's day but the difference between the accuracy you will get if you choose a different day the time difference will not be significant Top of page What about Equation of Time? The equation of time is the difference, over the course of a year, between time as read from a sundial and a clock. The sundial can be ahead (fast) by as much as 16 ½ minutes around November 3rd. Or fall behind by as much as 14 minutes around February 12th. It is caused by irregularity of the motion of the Sun in the sky, due to a combination of the obliquity of the Earth's rotation axis and the eccentricity of its orbit. The equation of time is the east or west component of the analemma, a curve representing the angular offset of the Sun from its mean position on the celestial sphere as viewed from Earth. On very sophisticated sundials, this is handled by a moveable gnomon – the diagonal shaft that casts the shadow of the sun. On most garden sundials, the variation, being in the winter months, is not significant Is there a Moon dial? It is also possible to tell the time by the moon. There is a famous moon dial at Queen's College, Cambridge, England. More about this can be found at: www.queens.cam.ac.uk/queens/Images/sundial.html Do you supply Gift Vouchers? If you want to give a sundial as a gift but are not sure which one to buy, why not give a Gift Voucher. These are available from £25 in increments of £5 - ring us on 01984 629242 | 
