Horizontal (Horniman) Sundial - Horniman Gardens, London Road, Forest Hill, London, UK
N 51° 26.517 W 000° 03.641
30U E 704265 N 5703072
Within Horniman Gardens, at Forest Hill in south London, there is a trail of sundials. These are of a variety of types that demonstrate how the sun is used to indicate the time. There are 12 sundials in all but only 11 are easily accessible.
Waymark Code: WMM6NT
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/31/2014
Views: 2
Close to the first sundial in the trail, the scaphe sundial, there is a map showing the location of the others. As a suggestion, and to easily locate the others, pop in to the museum reception and ask for a (free) map of the museum and grounds. Return to the map and transfer the locations - it makes finding them a lot easier!
The Horniman Museum website tells us about this sundial:
Horniman dial
Design: John Moir
Construction: Ray Ashley
This dial is sited where the Horniman family house once stood. The gnomon's shape is based upon the 'H' from the old Horniman Museum logo.
The word 'Horniman' is written in Morse Code in place of the lines indicating 9 and 7 o'clock which celebrates the date 1897 – the year in which the gardens were first opened to the public.
Reading the dial
The edge of the shadow created by the 'H' shaped gnomon indicates solar time.
Correcting the "reading" |
Map of the sundials |