New sundial installed on an original cast iron pedestal in the sunken garden at Lews Castle, Stornoway
The new sundial for Lews Castle at Stornoway is now in place in the sunken garden. The old cast iron pedestal has been restored and painted beautifully and the sundial fits perfectly on top. The local team at I M Murray Engineering carried out the work on site.
The handsome pedestal was once the base for a fountain. Continue reading
A new design of armillary sphere takes shape in Edinburgh, inspired by an original sundial from Northern Italy. The skilled blacksmith work is complete. This is a bespoke design with gold highlights still to be painted.
A new design of armillary sphere has been taking shape in Edinburgh. It is inspired by an original sundial from Northern Italy which has an attractive and distinctive form. The expert blacksmiths at Ratho Byres Forge have done an excellent job in working from our design. Continue reading
The new sundial explains the history of Lews Castle. It will be installed in the sunken garden as part of a regeneration project.
Lews Castle at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles is in the far north of Scotland. It once belonged to the wealthy overseas trader Sir James Matheson, who built the castle as a mansion home on the site of the ancient Seaforth Lodge in the 1840s. He planted woodlands to surround his property and laid out pleasure gardens with species imported from all over the world. An extensive programme of work to regenerate the castle grounds began in 2019. When an original cast iron pedestal was discovered at the castle it was decided it should be restored. It now has a new sundial, which is just finished, and Continue reading
Time lapse camera set up for study of a sundial looking at precision of the time shadow
There are many interpretations of how well a sundial reads the time. It is often thought the smallest increment of time on a sundial will be around two minutes. This is because the large diameter of the sun gives a fuzzy edge to the time shadow. Our study looked at the shadow Continue reading
Susan Calman chats with Alastair Hunter about the grand sundial at Glamis Castle and finds out how to read the time.
Susan Calman loves her tours of Scotland uncovering secrets for her Channel 5 TV series, ‘Secret Scotland with Susan Calman’. This time she was in Aberdeenshire and Angus. She began with a visit to Glamis Castle, the much-loved family home of Her Majesty the Queen Mother. Susan could not miss the chance to see Scotland’s tallest sundial while she was there, Continue reading
The polyhedron is an upper part of the sundial with 80 dials, and an earl’s coronet on top. Four lion sculptures at a lower level carry dials in their claws.
In the extraordinary world of Scottish historic sundials, the supreme sundial monument stands at Glamis Castle. It is the tallest and grandest sundial and is in the grounds of one of the most beautiful castles in Scotland. In August 2020 a TV crew were filming there for a future series. They asked Alastair Hunter to Continue reading
Silver Dihelion dual sundial sculpture able to read solstice and equinox, summer, winter, spring and autumn seasons, and the daytime hours.
Summer Solstice 2020 in Edinburgh was a day of beautiful sunshine. What could be a better time to show off our Dihelion dual sundial, which can read the solstice and the equinox seasons and the daytime hours. Shifting patterns of sunlight and shadow and petals of the sunflower show through so clearly. There is a lovely Continue reading
The sundial consists of 61 multiple dials on raised panels and in sunken hollows. The date of the sundial is 1630. It has been made as an exhibition piece to show all of the sundial mathematics of its era.
The sundial obelisk at Drummond Castle in Perthshire has a long and distinguished history. It has its place in the architecture of the ancient castles and houses in Scotland. It is connected with the very earliest days of the British Sundial Society (BSS). And it is one of the most important free-standing sundials in the British Isles from the early 1600s still surviving.
In 2017 after almost four hundred years outdoors the sundial was showing serious signs of the stone deteriorating. The whole structure was feared to be unsound. Making it safe had become urgent. Continue reading
Multi-faceted stone sundial after restoration. There are 34 separate dials, two for local time and the others for different places round the world.
Restoration of ancient stone sundials in Scotland can be very successful. As a latest example, a multi-faceted sundial at Nunraw, East Lothian, was found in poor condition in the garden of a private estate where it stands. It has now been restored to full working order and looks spectacular. The restoration was completed in June 2019.
This sundial belongs to the great era of Scottish sundials in the 17th and 18th centuries. It consists of three multi-faceted stones with a total of 34 separate dials. Continue reading