The Faversham Dial Photogallery
A Noon Mark designed by BSS President Christopher StJH Daniel MBE
The Faversham Dial is strictly speaking a noon mark. The spot of light that passes through the golden sun motif that is held out from the nearby window frame, crosses the vertical centre line of the dial at Noon Solar time - that is when the sun is directly overhead at Faversham. This moment will not generally coincide with noon as shown on a watch but in the summer months it will be roughly within plus or minus five minutes of GMT. The position at which the spot of light crosses the vertical line gives an indication of the sun's position in the zodiac - that is to say roughly of date. Then, when it traverses the lowest line, the spot marks the time of the summer solstice, traversing the upper line corresponds to the winter solstice and the spot traverses the line that passes through the central lozenge on each of the two equinoxes. The names shown on the dial are those of the designer, the painter and the fabricator of the gnomon. Click on any image for a larger version. Why not read Christopher Daniel's article about the dial here?
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