Armillary sundials make a stunning and unique focal point in any garden. They also make memorable gift - retirement, anniversary, birthday, christmas or wedding - which can be personalised with an engraving on the dial itself.
Engraving Options
The top band can be engraved with your own dedication or motto of your choice. In all the photos below (except the Galileo) the sundials are shown with this band at the bottom - just above the tail of the arrow. The Galileo sundial is shown with this band moved to the top. We can simply move the bottom band of the other armillaries to the top allowing your engraving to be seen.
Further details are given on each sundial page.
All prices include VAT ~ FREE delivery to UK Mainland if ordered online
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Further details
Armillary sundials are so called from the Latin armilla for bracelet; they work on the same principal as the conventional flat dial but with the hours engraved on the bracelet or hour band. The gnomon (the diagonal arrow) casts a shadow on the hour band as the sun travels across the sky.
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.
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.
Those who couldn't afford their own sundials 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 sundials 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 sundial 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 sundials 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 sundial - set on a stone pedestal to catch the shadow of the sun god Sol as he crossed the sky.
Of the 8 types of sundials - horizontal and armillary are best suited for garden use. Horizontal sundials, the type commonly seen on pedestals, consist of a dial plate, marked in hour lines, and a "gnomon", the raised projection that casts a shadow.
Armillary spheres, which look like large, open globes, have the hour band fixed in the plane of the equator; the gnomon takes the form of an arrow shaft set diagonally - the angle being determined by the latitude the dial is being used in - we set the angle to suit that latitude where our dials will be used.
For the sundial to work correctly the angle of the gnomon must be set to the latitude in which the sundial is being used. All my armillary sundials (except the Ptolemy Celeste and Penthouse Crescent) have variable gnomons so they can be adjusted for different latitudes and so are suitable for the UK, most of Europe, Canada and the USA.
