Hello happy gnomonists
----------
fer j. de vries wrote :
>
> In France near the coast there is the island
Point St Michel with a
> church on it and the top of that church is used
as shadow casting device
> of a sundial on the beach of France, ( not the
beach of the island ).
> On the beach only some hourpoints on the
equinoxline have been
> constructed, but it is a 'man made' sundial.
> I think it is a possible winner if only looking
to the dimensions, but
> pitty I can't find the values for these
dimensions in all my papers.
> Somewhere I must have a picture of it.
>
The sundial at the Mont Saint-Michel was
designed and set up in 1988. It used the tip of
the spire of the top chapel as a gnomon. It was
157 m high. Hours were shown from 9 am to 3 pm by
huge roman digits 23 m long. The line itself was
about 800 m long. The (very precise) design was
limited to the equinox line. Indeed, set up on
the shore north of the Mont, it was not supposed
to last long : it was the only sundial flooded
twice a day by the tide ! (another kind of
record for sundials...) Set up during summer 1988
it was removed a few weeks after the fall
equinox.
The idea was nice indeed. The site was really
worth a visit, especially at ebb tide (of course
!...). I have kept many documents and pictures
about it.
Best regards
Jean-Paul Cornec
e-mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
48°44',4 N - 3°27',4W
