north

Inverkeithing Mercat Cross – sundial restoration complete

Inverkeithing Mercat Cross, the capital stone, cube sundial, and unicorn fully restored.

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. Continue reading

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Haddo House cube stone sundial restored and reading solar time

Haddo House stone cube sundial

This sundial cube stone has fine carving detail. Each of five faces can read the time. The horizontal dial carved in the stone on top indicates an ornamental piece for a garden. A cube set on a tall pillar or on a wall will have the side dials only. Photo: Graciela Ainsworth.

This cube stone sundial stands in the garden of Haddo House, the National Trust for Scotland property in Aberdeenshire. When we examined it at the workshop, it had broken and missing gnomons and moss obscured the dials. After restoration the dials can now read solar time properly again.

A cube dial has the mathematical attraction of reading time by the sun on south, east, west, and north faces. As a result, as the sun moves round, the cube sundial is an excellent device for showing time Continue reading

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Restoration of Inverkeithing Mercat Cross, finding true North

The azimuth sundial instrument

The azimuth sundial used as a measuring instrument for finding north. The cursor is set for the date, the cursor arm is turned to set the time. The gnomon shadow and cursor are in line.

The Mercat Cross at Inverkeithing in Scotland is a tall stone column that dates from the 14th century. The top of the column has a sundial stone in the form of a cube and a unicorn. Restoration of the whole column is now complete. To re-install the sundial stone correctly we had to find a true north line.

The north line is the direction that shadows will fall at noon, and Noon is the exact time of day when the sun is in the south. Continue reading

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North alignment on a Victorian pedestal

Sun direction measured with an angle finder

The direction of the sun measured against one edge of the octagonal stone pedestal using the angle finder and light slit

A Victorian sundial pedestal stands in the gardens of Riccarton estate outside Edinburgh. It once held a beautiful octagonal dial which is now in safe storage. A replacement dial is to go on show and it must be in a correct orientation. The gnomon on a sundial must point north. A wrong alignment will make the sundial inaccurate, and nothing on the 19th century pedestal actually marks the north. Continue reading

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