Sundials on the Internet

Sundial basics

Sundials are more complex than they seem. See our introduction page

explained. And there are 6 sundial projects to start you on your journey. Our FAQ lists some questions raised by readers with the answers you may find helpful

Setting up sundials

The 3 essential things you need to set up a sundial are explained here. You will find it helpful to know your latitude, and to know the time of solar noon when the sun is directly overhead; if you access this site on your computer, you can print out a table showing the time of solar noon for the whole year

Technical info

Vertical dials on a wall are the most challenging, and for them you need to know the declination of the wall. It is helpful to know why sun time is different from watch time because of the Equation of Time - our watches assume that every day is exactly 24 hours, when in fact they vary in length

Join the british sundial society

Join our group finding, making, discussing and publicising sundials

Sundials are an ancient technology, combining art in design, craft in making, and maths

Our members are young and old, male and female, of diverse interests

and come from all over the world

Our website is at www.sundialsoc.org.uk and we publish a quarterly Bulletin

Join us now, and get six months extra on your first years subscription

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Piers Nicholson

My sundials mark important events. They combine modern design, excellent accuracy, rugged constuction, and a great "wow factor".Prices from £700 to £1400

Border Sundials

Handmade sundials and armillary spheres tell the time accurately and add beauty to your garden throughout the year. Sundials from £140, armillary spheres from £2,000. All our sundials are made to order

Merlin Design

We work mainly in brassproducing both horizontal and wertical dials, in any size you want. We can produce fine detail, and in a variety of finishes. Prices range from £100 to £400

David Harber

Custom sundials made from premium materials: armillary spheres, vertical dials, horizontal and more. All sundials can be personalised.

Spot-On Sundials

Our contemporary brass scientific sundials are available in 17, 27 & 34 cm sizes, and are very easy to set up. They make ideal presents. Prices from £105 to £325

Sundial pictures

Our page on new sundials has a great selection of modern dials from all over the world. And our picture page has links to many other websites which have pictures of sundials in individual countries and others

Sundial trails

Sundial trails give you the opportunity to visit many good sundials when you travel. Some are walking trails, for some you need a car. And there are sundials trail all over the world, from Ottawa to Tasmania

Sundial locations

Our locations page leads you to a sundial map of Austria (which also extends to other neighbouring countries) and to a sundial map of the British Isles from the British Sundial Society. Please tell us of any others

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flixton

Sundial image - Czech Republic

Sundial in Josefov

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You can translate all the pages on this site into more than 100 other languages, including:

Sundial makers

Our Sunfair page gives details of some experienced sundial makers who produce accurate, well-crafted sundialswhich are beautifully made and correctly designed. And the makers page gives links to sundial makers all over the world

Sundial Mottoes

Sundial mottoes are many and various, whether rules for living ("Always time for friends"), exhortations ("While we have time, let us do good"), mortality ("Life passes like a shadow") or use ("Make haste, but slowly") and here are more

Sundial societies

There are national sundial societies in many contries around the world. The largest are the British Sundial Society & the North American Sundial Society, Both have quarterly jourrnals and an international membershp. Click here for a complete list

Reference Articles

We have an archive of articles providing more information about all aspects of sundials and we are adding articles we have found particularly well written and informative whenever we come across them

Books and sources

The books page lists some of the classic texts on sundials and how to make them; these are particularely useful for people new to this challenging field

Links

When this site started in 1996, there were only a handful of other sundials sites. Now there are thousands. We list here on our links page all those we think especially worthy of note - and would welcome suggestions for any others!