Welcome to our Web Site

The British Sundial Society was formed in 1989 and is a thriving and friendly Society of some 425 members. Its objects are to advance the education of the public in the art and science of gnomonics and the knowledge of all types of sundial; to catalogue and advise on the restoration of sundials in the British Isles, and to research their history.

The New 'How Sundials Work' page is here thanks to Tony Moss.  Please note that this, and all other pages on this website, are the intellectual property of the BSS and its contributors, and may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

The BSS website down

We apologise to all of you who had hoped to visit our website last week. The server hosting our sites experienced a serious collapse causing the unavailability of many websites and domains including ours. We hope it will be stable from now on.
[by Webmaster on May 1, 2012]

Dial of the Month

2011 May  June  July  August  September  October  November  December

2012 January  February  March  April

Please send your own submissions of your favourite sundials to the webmaster.  This is your chance to show your favourite (public) dial (perhaps one near where you live, or one you have found on your travels) to other dialling enthusiasts around the world.

Latest News

International Sundial Trail Competition

Why not put together a sundial trail in an area of interest known to you?

In order to increase interest in sundials generally, The "British Sundial Society" and "Sundials on the Internet" have come together jointly to promote a prize for the best sundial trail to be developed in 2011.  

This competition is open to all but the closing date is 31st January 2012, and two prizes, of £250 and £100 are offered for the best entries submitted.  Full details of the rules and regulations etc are to be found at http://www.sundials.co.uk/competition.php and these will shortly also be placed on the BSS website.

Have your camera with you this summer and let us have details of your trails...

Patrick Powers & Piers Nicholson

For and on behalf of BSS and of Internetworks Ltd. - Internetworks Ltd. are the webmasters of www.sundials.co.uk

Stolen Sundials

Please see the updated Stolen Dials list (PDF 465 KB).  The recently stolen penultimate dial on page 15 of the list is not clearly described, but the pedestal is very identifiable.  And excellent news - thanks to Maciej Lose of Poland, the Delander dial SRN 3607 (Rugby, Northants) has now been recovered, after he spotted it in an Auction catalogue and recognised it from this list!

Publications

The Society's main publication, the Bulletin, is published four times a year and sent to all members. The contents of all issues up to June 2010 are listed here. (MS Word .doc file)

With The Bulletin we send out an informal Newsletter. The past six issues are available on-line here. The June 2011 issue is available on-line here.

Other Sundial Web Sites

While there is a wealth of pictures and information on this site, rather than duplicate efforts, we have a large number of links to other sites, created by other sundial societies around the world and individual companies and enthusiasts. Many specialise in one aspect or another of sundials. A notable recent site has hundreds of photographs of painted wall sundials; rare in this country but very common in some parts of the world and often very beautiful.

Some of our own members design and/or make sundials and have Web sites. They are listed here.

Our member Piers Nicholson's own site 'Sundials on the Internet' contains much information including projects you can do, books and sundial trails all over the world.

How can we help you?

The links on the left of this page will take you to some of the most important parts of the site. The FAQs to the right should answer your questions.

The Dials of Distinction pages give useful information and photographs of interesting sundials in the UK and around the world. Our Links page tells you where to find many more.

The Sundial Glossary is a very comprehensive on-line reference encyclopaedia, including formulae for designing many different types of dial, pictures of dial types and parts and historical information on sundials and their makers. If you are carrying out research for a project it will prove to be an invaluable source of information.

The books and publications section of this site lists all of the important books on sundialling, many of which you can order from us.

If you find yourself coming back to this site regularly then you've probably become 'hooked' on sundials like the rest of us, and you should join our society. Members receive the quarterly Bulletin and many other benefits.

Why don't you join us? Our membership page explains how you can sign up.

The Society has a pool of experienced lecturers who are prepared to give short talks of an informal nature, ranging from lectures on the history of dialling to technical details. Needless to say the lectures are always well illustrated! For more information contact the secretary.