The horizontal dial in the churchyard of St. Edmunds in Castleton, Derbyshire, UK has been stolen in the period since Christmas last. This is a fascinating old dial, and the Church is anxious to recover it
The dial is 250mm in diameter and has been recorded by us under the reference SRNO 2478 since a first sighting in 1992. We have in our archive photos dated 1994 which I shall try and post shortly. The dial is important because it has a named maker (John Maquiner - possibly of Sheffield), a motto "Hora Pars Vitae", a stated design Latitude of 53 deg 21 min, a substantial gnomon thickness and an Equation of Time correction scale. These details are such as to make it easily recognisable should a dial on sale ever be suspected of theft. If any recipient of this e-mail hears of a dial like this being offered for sale please contact me. A reward is being offered for information resulting in its recovery. Patrick Powers
