Claude, At a longitude of 4.713 degrees East in France, official time in summer is 1 hour and 41 minutes in advance to mean solar time.
That is about the difference between a vertical shadow line and the XII hour line on the sundial. It goes to show that the sundial is corrected to indicate official summer time. I don't see a problem. Willy Leenders Hasselt, Flanderen in Belgium Claude Hartman wrote: > Can some one help? > > While visiting S. France I passed through Fontvieille about 8 km NE of > Arles. > There is a Chateau de Montauban where Alphonse Daudet often stayed. He > wrote about the windmills near Fontvieille. > > The Chateau was not open. Looking at one side I found a lovely vertical > dial > painted on the wall near what appeared to be private quarters. The dial was > about 3 feet high and 2 feet wide and it appeared to be facing direct > south. > I have attached a picture. (This is a reduced version so that this message > gets permitted. ) > > Here is the puzzle. Why is there such a large longitude correction? > > From what I can tell there is a difference of about 1 hour and 35 minutes > between local noon and dial noon! That makes a longitude difference of > about 23.75 degrees. Fontvielle's longitude is given as 4.713 degrees > East > in Maporama. Thus the location that is being mimicked is about > 28.46 degrees East - about the longitude of Istantbul !!! > > Does anyone know why? Is there something in the history of this > Chateau that would cause this? Are there any clues in the furniture > of the dial - the crest or other symbols? > > Claude Hartman > 35N 120W > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > [Image] -
