Dear Diallists, I have been researching the history of two vertical sundials on the south-eastern buttress of the 17th c. chapel at Wadham College, Oxford and wonder if any of you have come across any reference to them. The College authorities are interested in restoring them.
All that remains of them today is two gnomons, one above the other. The upper one has a sphere nodus attached to it on a short stalk. Otherwise they are very plain and there is no trace of the dials. The stonework of the chapel has been restored several times and the gnomons have been reset at least once. The gnomons seem to be at almost the same angle, but I have yet to measure them. The young Christopher Wren, Wilkins, Hooke and others held the early meetings of the Royal Society at Wadham and there are many references to their interest in dialling including a reflective ceiling dial that Wren made for his own room at the college, so it is possible that the dials on the chapel have some connection with them. My research at the Royal Society, Bodleian and Wadham libraries have yielded no clues as to their original appearance, though there are plenty examples of 17th c. sundial style to copy, including Wren's dial at All Souls, Oxford. If anyone is interested I can send them a JPEG of the gnomons. Best wishes to you all, Harriet James
