Choosing / positioning your Sundial
Sun Dial or Plinth- which to buy first
We are often asked which you should buy first - the sundial or plinth. Normally it is the sundial that is going to be the focal point so you should buy this first.
There only a handful of sundial makers but hundreds of different plinths and plinth suppliers. It is much easier to carry a sundial round to try on plinths so again buy the sundial first. Then take it around and try it on a variety of plinths.
We have sourced a number of suitable plinths which can be delivered to your door usually within 14 days of order. See our range of plinths.
Sundials date from 1500 B.C or before
Sun dials are an ancient method of telling time. The oldest known was constructed in Egypt around 1500 B.C. It was shaped like an L, and the length of the shadow cast by the vertical leg along the horizontal leg indicated the time. Romans perfected the horizontal sundial we know today, and even invented portable versions for travelling
Sundials work according to the earth's rotation
The principle is simple. As the Earth rotates on its axis, the sun appears to move across the sky. Thus, the shadow of a gnomon (Greek for Know) pointing toward the celestial pole will move across the hour band of the sundial. The sun travels 15 degrees westward every hour; the gnomon's shadow on the dial plate moves at the same rate. You read the time by noting the hour line closest to the edge of the shadow.
During the Renaissance, sundials of every description were produced. In addition to marking hours and minutes, some sundials recorded the date, seasons, and signs of the Zodiac. Some even carried tide tables, which indicated the time of high tide at named ports. At the same time instruments like Orreries and Tellurions were created to show the movement of the earth, moon, sun and planets
Those who couldn't afford their own sun dials had only to look up, for vertical sundials were mounted on the outside walls of many churches and public buildings. By the 18th century, though, increasingly efficient mechanical clocks began to supersede shadow-chasing sundials. Still, the French railway regulated its clocks by sun dials until the end of the 19th century.
Gardeners, of course, don't need to mourn the passing of shadow clocks. We can perpetuate the 3,500-year tradition simply by placing a sun dial in a sunny spot in the yard. Set on a stone pedestal, a sun dial can both anchor the garden and trace the hours we spend digging.
Not only did the Romans perfect the garden sundial as we know them today, but they were also among the first to use them in gardens. Roman gardens were private spaces, most often set behind houses and enclosed on all sides by colonnades and rooms. In the midst of this ordered scene was the garden sundial - set on a stone pedestal to catch the shadow of the sun god Sol as the crossed the sky.
When the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century, monasteries preserved Roman horticultural practices as well as their garden sundials. So today, when we set our sundial we are following a practice that is centuries old.
Click to learn more about sundials