Today I revisited the Guildhall clock Museum and can confirm that the Elias Allen dial has no facility to take a vertical post to cast a shadow  which could indicate the sun's azimuth. There are no fixing holes, and anyway the compass rose is centered within the base of the gnomon. The reason the rose shows reciprocal compass points (i.e out by 180 degrees ) remains a mystery.               Geologists talk of magnetic reversal of the Poles though I suspect this was a bit before the time of Elias Allen!         John Moir

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