The Amazing Seaton Ross Dials by William Watson
Acknowledgement: SunInfo is much indebted to Mr Andrew Sefton, Archivist of the “Pocklington and District Local History Group”. for both the information on this page and for permission to show his copyright images and text. © Copyright Andrew Sefton 2021
Seaton Ross is situated about 15 miles southeast of York. The sundial on a cottage in North End (Dial 1 here) was made in the 1840s and is said to be the largest in England with its twelve ft diameter. Its maker was William Watson, farmer and surveyor, who made a similar one on nearby Dial Farm, (Dial 2) his family home, one in a church yard and another above the church door of St Edmund's Church..
William Watson was brought up in Seaton Ross on the
estate of the Maxwells of Everingham and learned the art of land surveying from
his father, a collector of land taxes. William was a farmer, astronomer and
maker of sundials. His circle of local astronomer friends included Thomas Cooke,
and his collection of diaries and notebooks are a remarkable legacy.
A sundial, signed “William Watson, 1825” (Dial 4 here) is positioned over the
entrance to the church. This is interesting since
it appears to have been designed for a wall facing slightly West of South yet
the gnomon appears to be nearly vertical.
William Watson was born at Seaton Ross in the East Riding of Yorkshire on 17th
May 1784, He was the fourth child of eleven to parents John and Sarah Watson.
William’s family were farmers and following in that tradition of his parents and
grandparents before him, he spent much of his early life in farming. For many
years William lived and farmed at Seaton Lodge and in the early part of the 19th
century set about cleaning the land of heath and furze, a task that was
successfully completed in 1834.
His interest in sundials began by making a sundial for the wall of his own
farmhouse (Top left). This eventually extended to four – a sundial on each wall
of the house! William subsequently renamed the farm “Dial House Farm”. His
learning for sundial making is believed to have been self taught and he
developed a talent for the making of sundials at Seaton Ross and the surrounding
neighbourhood, gaining considerable fame by this work. He also wrote poetry and
in 1824 advertised his making of sundials in verse:
“If any person wants a Dial, Apply to me I’ll
make a trial, I can make for any man, Upon a much improved plan, Five guineas is
the price of one, and each mile distant Half a Crown; I make them to put on a
wall, neat strong and true and that is all”.
Three fine examples of William’s sundials still exist in Seaton Ross namely;
Dial Farm (1821), Dial Cottage (1850) and St. Edmunds Church (1825). The
sundial on Dial Cottage is reputed to be one of the largest in the country being
12 feet in diameter painted on the wall of the cottage. In 1854 Forth’s of
Pocklington (printers and stationers) printed William’s little book of
directions entitled “Dialling Diagrams” being examples of fifty-four degrees of
latitude; with an explanation for their construction. A nearby church dial (Dial
3 here) at Pocklington is believed to be made by Watson. The motto reads
Quis solem dicere falsum audeat ? and under:—R. English and W. Cook.
Churchwardens, 1820. The Latin motto translates to "Who dares to say that the
sun is false?" and is also believed to have been devised by Watson. There is
also an interesting West declining dial by Watson on the side of the
Blacksmith's Arms in the nearby town of 'Holme on Spalding Moor'.
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