Dear Darek,
I think there are many examples to document the use of dials to set the
clock. One is a horizontal at the top of the church tower at Benenden in
Kent, inscribed 'This dial was given by Thos Law Hodges Esq/Anno Domini 1819
for the Regulation/of the clock in the Parish Church of / Benenden Lat 51d
3m 54s'. Another is on a ledge of the tower at Southwell Minster in
Nottinghamshire, visible through a window from the clock chamber, but not
from the ground. I would be interested to hear of any other examples.
In a book 'Amusing Reminiscences of Victorian Times and of Today' by a
clockmaker, John Neve Masters, we read "When I was a boy in the
eighteen-fifties there were two clockmakers in Tenterden, and part of their
business was to ascertain the exact time occasionally, which in those days
was taken from sun-dials; so my father and the other 'clock-smiths' (as they
were called then) used to go to the church porch, on which was a sun-dial,
to 'take the time' ".
Regards,
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Darek Oczki
Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 9:02 AM
To: sundial@uni-koeln.de
Subject: Sundials and tower clocks
Dear Diallists
It is daid that in some point in history sundials co-existed with clocks. We
even say those sundials were used to set the right time on clocks and
personal watches. Do we have any iconographic evidence for that? There is of
course that famous drawing from Bedos de Celles (attached - Scan0237.jpg) of
a group of gentlemen setting their watches by a vertical noon dial. But I
would particularly like to find some examples of setting tower clocks. In a
book about time in general available in Poland (Ludwik Zajdler - Dzieje
zegara) there is this drawing said to be of Flemish source (attached -
Scan0236.jpg) depicting a clock master adjusting a tower clock according to
sundial readings. Does anyone know the exact source of this one, please? Are
there any other known examples?
In Europe we have many cases of public buildings having both a sundial and a
tower clock. However it seems most unlikely that these sundials were used
for setting the clocks - usually one could not see them from the clock
mechanism spot and reading it and adjusting would require two men and a
walkie-talkie :). I would rather say there had to be another, pehaps much
smaller sundial (portable?) for use of a clock master. These grand sundials
were used more as an alternative for clocks in case of some kind of
mulfunction. Any comments would be most welcome. Thank you.
--
Best regards
Darek Oczki
52N 21E
Warsaw, Poland
GNOMONIKA.pl
Sundials in Poland
http://gnomonika.pl
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