Message text written by Claude Hartman
>It was mentioned that this was done extensively in England for church windows. Does anyone know of existing examples?< There are more than thirty such dials still in existence in the UK (and known to the British Sundial Society's Sundial Register) some of which are in museums and others in churches and/or private residences. Most are Vertical Direct South dials but some declining dials are known. I think I am right to say that all are in England. The manufacturing technique is still in existence and modern stained glass dials are designed from time to time - indeed the BSS Chairman Chris Daniel has designed more than one. One was recently unveiled to mark the anniversary of Drake's defeat of the Armada. Few of those in existence are still mounted in the correct manner - as you might expect many of the windows have been broken over the years and often the dials' glass has been saved to decorate another window though they are not usually then placed in the correct alignment. Very few of the remaining windows still have their gnomons. They too have been broken off over the years. It is not uncommon for English Stained Glass dials to incorporate a 'joke' in the design; the most common being a fly or a bee so as to make it appear that the insect is on the outside of the glass. These may have been intended as a pun on 'Time flies' It is a source of great delight for Recorders to find a hitherto unknown stained glass dial in England. This happened only recently with a dial known from literature to have been in a church made derelict years ago. It was found high in a window of a nearby church - again used to rebuild an existing window. Sometimes a stained glass dial comes up for auction but they usually fetch a prohibitive price - prohibitive to me anyway! Naturally the whereabouts of such dials is usually highly confidential but if you are interested and e-mail me directly I can alert you to some that are exhibited in museums of the UK and are therefore on public view. It is a fascinating branch of dialling Patrick
