The Inverkeithing Mercat Cross is a tall stone column in the centre of the town. The capital stone, cube sundial, and unicorn sculpture are at the top of the column. There has been no ‘Cross’ as a Christian symbol on the column since the Reformation. Photo: Graciela Ainsworth.
The Inverkeithing Mercat Cross is a tall and handsome piece of historic town architecture. The Mercat Cross in Scottish towns was a symbol of licensed authority to trade in goods, and the trading place was at the Cross. The sundial would be a 17th century addition, now fully restored, together with the heraldic capital stone and the symbolic unicorn of Scotland.
The sundial is a cube stone which is ideal for a prominent place in a town. It is visible from all sides and it shows the time at all hours of the day. This one has the distinctive form of aligning with the sun on the diagonal, rather than on the square like the Haddo House sundial we have also restored. The advantage of the diagonal is there is a continuous overlap of hours from one dial to the next. This means that the public can see the time more easily, and two adjacent dials will show the time. If the alignment of the cube with the sun is not correct the dials will show the wrong time, and each one will be different.
Examining the sundial stone in the workshop, the four dials were in poor condition. The hour lines were still clear, but all the paint was flaking badly. One remnant of a gnomon was still in place and the others were missing. We completed a mathematical check on the hour lines, and calculated the compound angles for new gnomons. Rebuilding on a north line completed this successful restoration.