Sundials (Shire Library)

Sundials were once highly important timepieces although now they more commonly appear as garden ornaments as the modern world demands greater convenience and accuracy. This concise study looks at each different class of sundial, including vertical, multiple, horizontal, equinoctial polar and other more unusual dials. The book begins with the history and development of using the sun to determine the passing of time, from prehistory to the Romans and Anglo-Saxons and the first publications devoted to the art of dialling from the late 16th cetury onwards. Historic as well as modern dials are discussed and illustrated, including those found on buildings, in churchyards, in public squares and private gardens.

Christopher Daniel joined the National Maritime Museum in 1964, after a career at sea, becoming Heading of the Department of Museum services. In 1986 he left the museum to pursue his current career as a sundial designer. His works include the famous dolphin sundial at Greenwich, marking the Queen's Silver Jubilee; the reconstructed vertical sundial at HM Tower of London; the Sir Francis Drake commemorative stained glass sundial in Buckland Abbey; and the equinoctial armillary sundial in Windsor. He is chairman of the British Sundial Society and author of the 'sundial page' in 'Clocks' magazine.