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Some Notes on Mass Dials

John Goslin

Sundials are mentioned in the Bible (2 Kings XX, 11 & Isaiah xxxviii, 8 ), and were used by the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, the Greeks and the Romans. Church enthusiasts will know them as ”massdials” or “scratch dials.”

“In England the oldest dials are often to be seen on the south walls of some old churches, for in spite of decay and rebuilding many of these ancient time-markers have been spared, and are, naturally, of great archæological interest. The simplest of all are the Anglo-Saxon examples, which consist of a few lines radiating from a central hole in which a wooden style could be inserted. In most of these dials the day is divided into four tides of three hours each. One excellent specimen may be seen at Daglingworth, in Gloucestershire. Another is on Bewcastle Cross, which dates back to 670 AD.” (The Wayfarer’s Book, by E. Mansell.)

To be slightly technical, the angle at which the pointer, style or gnomon should be inserted in the hole ought to vary, according to location: the further north, presumably, the steeper the angle from the horizontal. One usually finds them on the south side, obviously, near the porch or on a buttress; occasionally later building has rendered them useless, but on the other hand has preserved them from the elements.

The oldest dial in the UK is at Escomb, Co. Durham, and is surrounded by a serpent (= Eternity.)

Another famous one is at Kirkdale, Yorks., with a lengthy Saxon inscription about the building of the church, also saying that the dial was “wrought by Hawarth and Brand, priests”, plus a “title” over it explaining that “this is the day’s sun-marker.”

Corhampton in Hampshire has a Saxon dial of simple type.

Saxon Dial at Corhampton

There is also a very good one (a part missing) at Orpington, which would have been a complete circle (rather than a half-circle, which is the usual form ). It is surrounded by two bands of cable moulding, between which there is an Anglo-Saxon inscription; the dial itself has rays dividing it into 16 sectors, and every other ray is crossed at the end; on the dial is some further (Roman) lettering, and three runes, both as yet undeciphered. It is now within the church - mounted upside down !

The Orpington Dial

The Anglo Saxons divided day and night into 8 tides; the daytime ones were 7.30 – 10.30 am; 10.30 am – 1.30 pm; 1.30 – 4.30 pm; and 4.30 – 7.30 pm. The crossed rays marked the middle of these tides; on the Orpington dial noon was presumably the crossed ray directly below the hole and above the cross in the inscription below. Each ray thus shews 1½ hours, rather than one.

The later and cruder massdials, however, usually show either a line for the main office times (services) of the day; or one line for each hour, like later sundials with which we are familiar.

Sometimes the lines usefully terminate with Roman numerals to make this function clear (e.g. Lytchett Minster); sometimes more than one dial is found (e.g. Martin, Hants, has four!); usually the presence of a dial indicates that original building work remains, though sometimes the stones can be reused and re-sited (Kinson, Dorset, has one upside down inside the church!), or may have a porch built over them, and sit there unnoticed !


Mass Dial at Lychett Minster	Mass Dial at Kinson

The priest’s house at Lyscombe, Dorset (ruined, likewise the chapel nearby, both on a remote farm) has a massdial ~ as one would expect.

Mass Dial at Lyscombe

Milton Abbey church boasts one up on the tower , which offers a slight problem. I assumed this was mounted upside down, since it could not “work” in that position : but then I noticed that even if it were reversed, the numbers would apparently be running the wrong way . Look at the right hand side and you can clearly see lines marked I, II, III and IIII. If it were reversed so that the sun shone on it, the time would then be shown as going from 4 (a.m.) to I (a.m.) ! Could it be that the mason got muddled ~ and that this perhaps caused the dial to be rejected and later re-used? Who knows?

Mass Dial on Milton Abbey Tower

There is another quirk to that tower, incidentally: a certain John Tregonwell (died 1680, and a forbear of the founder of Bournemouth) was once up on the top of it with his nursemaid, as a boy of five. As he reached over to pick a rose, he fell: but luckily his voluminous nankeen petticoats acted as a parachute and he landed safely, to be found on the grass contentedly picking daisies. He later gave his books to the Abbey Church “as a thankful acknowledgement of God’s wonderful mercy.”

Quite a topsy-turvy tower !

Those especially interested in the subject of dials, should go to: http://www.sundialsoc.org.uk/massdials.htm

The Dorset Historic Churches Trust wishes gratefully to record its sincere thanks to Mr John Goslin for providing this article with photographs and for allowing it be featured.

A Note on West Knighton Church

Mr John Goslin

The small church of St. Peter at West Knighton does not, perhaps, immediately come to mind as one of the best known in Dorset , but it does have one curious and interesting feature , as I recently discovered on a visit.

Having only been there a long time previously, I had a vague idea that there was something odd about the chancel arch, an inscription, or something…..

And I was right - high up on the nave side is a rather obscured and worn painting, difficult to make out - but now with digital cameras in use, rather easier to photograph.

It looks like a strange design, with some lettering in the centre. The rather poorly duplicated church guide was no help, however: after mentioning that the painting used to be known locally as the “Crusader’s Shield”, it suggested that the lettering could be “HIS.”

This is a misprint for “IHS” , a monogram often found in churches and religious decorations, being a transliteration of three letters from the name of Jesus, in Greek.

However, this is not what it turns out to be, as one can see already from the photograph.

First, however, to describe the whole design (the photograph is only partial).

The background is a rough circle, drawn with rays all round emanating from the centre. This is of course a sun - symbolizing God as light, not only for Christians, but for Jews as well, who call it the shekinah or Divine presence as visible light : on some Jewish gravestones a common motif is hands with the fingers spread apart in a certain way, because during a service the priest, in blessing, will make this gesture, symbolically allowing the shekinah to shine through (though both priest and congregation must not look at his hands when he does it.) [See illustration]

Upon the sun is imposed a triangle : this of course is a representation of the Trinity, the three points being separate and distinct and yet forming one whole : one can sometimes find a more elaborate form [see illustration] in which words are added making clear that one element “IS NOT” the same as the other two, and so on. The idea of the Trinity is not one which would be acceptable to Jews.

It seems all the more strange, therefore, that the lettering across the centre of the triangle is actually Hebrew !

Reading from right to left, the “s” shaped squiggle is a “yod”, followed by “he”, “vau” (or “waw”) and “he.” This is the Tetragrammaton, or sacred name of God, which we would Anglicise as “Jahweh” or Jehovah.

I believe that the painting is of mid-18^th. century origin - it seems possible that the church had been re-roofed by 1744, and (I am guessing here) the painting could then have been added to the interior apex of it, on the nave side of the chancel arch, for all the worshippers to see. Later on a ceiling was put in, which hid the painting; it was only recently uncovered again, maybe in the 1930’s. [The Dorset Commission on Historic Monuments, however, has the painting down as “early 18^th. century”]

The 18^th. century was the “age of Reason” and it did not seem odd then to reproduce a Jewish mystic symbol - the same can be seen in the church of Staunton Harold, for example ; and although It may now seem curious to us to have an icon with Jewish elements in a Church of England church, it serves to remind us that Jesus was a Jew, and that the Old Testament, which we have taken over and reinterpreted in light of the New, is in fact a collection of Jewish holy writings.

This rather naïve wall painting therefore told the worshippers (and tells us) that God is light; that God is three in one; and that our knowledge of Him began with the chosen people.

I have an old, properly printed, guide to this church, from which I gleaned some of the above information : but in this age of computers and desktop publishing, surely it would now be worthwhile revising and reissuing this guide, including something about the inscription, in a decent format ?

ABOVE: Hands performing the birkhat kohanim, or priestly blessing, on Jewish headstones in Warsaw .

ABOVE: More elaborate Trinity painting saying that all three elements are separate, but all are God (“DEUS”, in centre)
Ceiling painting at St. Mary, Bromfield, Shropshire .

ABOVE: The West Knighton wall painting

The Dorset Historic Churches Trust wishes gratefully to record its sincere thanks to Mr John Goslin for providing this article with photographs and for allowing it be featured.