About Our Garden Sundials
Brass sun dials make an unusual and attractive addition to any garden and will make a permanent and memorable gift so are particularly suitable as a retirement gift or to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or wedding especially if they have a personalised engraved dedication. Above are displayed our range of brass flat sundials - also known as horizontal sundials. Most of these are hand crafted in our Somerset workshop, the rest are hand finished and engraved by our highly skilled engraver. Brass is impervious to our weather but will darken down to an antique looking golden brown after a few months. The Phoenix range, the price of which includes your personal dedication or motto engraved on the sundial itself are made to order in our Somerset workshop are available in 3 sizes 8", 10" and 12" with each offered in 3 different shapes - Octagonal, Round and Square. Our Andromeda range (round, octagonal and square 3 sizes 8", 10" and 12") can be supplied without an engraving or we can engrave a one line dedication. Our Sunny range are cast and can not be engraved but we can provide an engraved brass plaque which can be affixed to the plintgh or pedestal. Since man first looked in to the heavens and watched the movement of the sun and stars across the skies he has used the sun to tell the time and the stars to forecast the future. Our Zodiac range combine both in a classically-designed sundial embossed with the zodiac sign of your choice in the price and are made to order in our Somerset workshop. They are available in 3 sizes 8", 10" and 12" with each offered in 3 different shapes - Octagonal, Round and Square. The precision Spot On range, designed by leading London sundial designer - Piers Nicholson. These are highly engineered precision sundials which will show solar time with unerring accuracy. The gnonom (the brass upright that cast the shadow of the sun) of these can be engraved with a dedication or motto of your choice. Our Patina range are cast in brass and (with the exception of the Bird Sundial) can not be engraved but we can provide an engraved brass plaque. We can engrave 2 lines of 20 characters directly on to the face of the Bird Sundial. All our prices include VAT, delivery to the Mainland UK and a comprehensive booklet describing how to set up and care for your sundial. So what you see is what you pay - there are NO hidden extra charges. We will also insure your sundial against theft for 12 months and give you a voucher for a 10% discount on any future purchases which you could use to buy a sundial as a gift to celebrate a retirement, birthday, anniversary or even a christening. If you are not entirely satisfied with your sundial - just send return it within 7 days and we will refund your purchase price in full or send you a different model.
Suitable Latitudes. Our Phoenix, Zodiac, Andromeda and Spot On sundials can be made to used in both the Northern (Europe Canada & the USA) and southern hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand as well as south Africa and South America) - email me with your nearest large city and I will be able to confirm that we can design a suitable model for your latitude.
Price All our sundial prices include VAT, delivery to the Mainland UK (which includes Northern Island) and a comprehensive booklet describing how to set up and care for your sundial. So what you see is what you pay - there are NO hidden extras except for deliveries outside mainland UK. Northern Ireland is treated as part of mainland UK for the delivery of sundials but NOT plinths. We will also insure your sundial in the UK against theft for 12 months from the date of purchase provided you have (a) fixed it securely in accordance with our instructions, (b) sent us a photo of your sundial in place and (c) in the event of your sundial being stolen providing us with the police crime number. Overseas delivery options and prices are shown in the checkout; you need to click on the BUY button to add a sundial to your shopping basket before you can access overseas delivery charges. This does NOT commit you to buying a sundial as you can amend or delete items in the checkout. CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OUR SUNDIALS BY PRICE
Money Back Guarantee If you are not entirely satisfied with your sundial - just return it within 7 days and we will refund the purchase price of your sundial or replace it with a different sundial. You will appreciate that this guarantee can not be applied to sundials with personalised engraving or plinths
Delivery Options The price shown includes VAT and delivery by Parcel Force’s 48 hour service to all of the UK Mainland. Next Day or Saturday am delivery can be added in the checkout but if you have ordered an engraving we need a few days to complete this. The number of days we require to complete an engraving are shown on each sundial page and will be updated periodically as our order book dictates. Deliveries to the Scottish Isles, Isles of Sicily, Isle of Man, the Channel Isle as well as Eire will incur an additional delivery charge and may take a few extra days. If you need your sundial delivered by a specific date please note this in the Checkout. Our order acknowledgement will state if this date can be met or not, in the latter case we will, of course, refund your purchase unless you agree to an alternative delivery date.
Setting Up/Fixing Your sundial needs to be mounted on a firm plinth or pedestal in an open area. The top of the plinth should be as near horizontal as possible. To align your sundial correctly at 12 o'clock midday, when the sun is due south, stand with your back to the sun and point the arrow away from you - this will be north. Wait until your watch shows 12 o'clock midday. Turn the dial until the shadow from the arrow shaft (known as the gnomon) cuts the XII 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. NOTE: If you want to set your sundial up to show solar (solar) time set the sundial up at 1pm which, because British Summer Time is an hour ahead of solar time, will be solar noon. Align the sundial so that the shadow from the gnomon is on the XII. I have set the sundial up in my garden to show British Summer time as I don't venture out in to the garden much in the winter. You can now fix the sundial to the plinth. Full instructions will be sent with your sundial.
Plinths Your sundial needs to be set on top of a plinth, pedestal, pillar, column balustrade, wall or tree stump in sunny area in your garden with the gnomon pointing due north (full instructions are supplied with each of my sundials). If you don’t have a suitable plinth or pedestal I would urge you to buy the sundial first. You can then take this around to garden centers or plinth manufacturers and try it on the top of one of their plinths. If you can’t find a suitable plinth I have selected a range of suitable plinths which can be delivered to your kerbside within 14 days of your order - in the menu on the extreme left click on Plinths & Pedestals. | 
