You stand on the marker for the current month and your own shadow points to the time on an ellipse of hour markers. Easy to construct and vandal-proof, these interactive sundials are suitable for public spaces, parks and school playgrounds.
The sundial is carved into pieces of stone or slate and set into grass, paving or tarmac. A fairly level area is required, approximately 5m (east to west) and 4m (north to south) with no overshadowing from large trees or buildings to the south.
Schools or community groups can be involved in the design, layout and installation or I can do it all for you. I hold full public liability insurance and have a CRB certificate.
Sundials relate to many aspects of the National Curriculum – the orbit of the earth round the sun, the Greenwich Meridian and time zones, latitude and longitude, seasons, points of the compass etc. Children can watch how their shadows change length depending on the time of day and the time of year.
A free educational pack for schools from Bowland Maths introduces Key Stage 3 pupils to the idea of using the sun to tell the time: www.bowlandmaths.org.uk Click on 'case studies' and find sundials from the list.
Sundial kit for DIY installation - £525 including VAT and delivery
Kit consists of: A layout plan and instructions, 13 pre-carved hour squares and 12 month squares 15 x 15 cm in white Portland stone or purple Welsh slate, painted in bright colours. You will need a small team of volunteers to lay out a meridian line, dig holes and mix concrete to make a small base for each stone.
Complete sundial kit (as above) supplied and installed by Sunnydials - £875 including VAT and delivery
The sundial hours can be numbered for Greenwich Mean Time, British Summer Time or both. A second set of numbers costs £200.
For additional decorative stones, special designs or colour schemes, dates, dedications etc. please contact me for a discussion and quotation.
