Midsummer sundial time
Analemmatic sundial. Memorial to Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915), born in Kirkcaldy, Fife. Pioneer of standard time and time zones, and influential in the international adoption of Greenwich as the prime meridian for the world. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1897. Fife Council selected our sundial installation for Kirkcaldy waterfront.
The analemmatic type of sundial requires a person to stand in the middle of the dial and act as the gnomon. The hours are laid out in an oval, and the person’s shadow points to the time. This is quite fun for an adult or a young person, and sometimes it is called a human sundial. The name ‘analemmatic’ is really a technical word meaning that the gnomon has to move with the sun’s position. In summer the sun is high in the sky so the person who is acting as the gnomon stands further forward, while in winter the sun is low and they move further back. The proper place to stand is marked on the sundial by an initial letter for each of the twelve months of the year.