Saxon Time Measurement

Abstract

In making a clearance of earth during alterations to the Cloister Garth at Canterbury Cathedral a Saxon pocket sun-dial, or time-piece, of gold and silver was found recently at a depth of two feet below the surface. It is described (The Times, July 31) as being in the form of a tablet of silver with a gold cap and chain, and for gnomon a gold pin surmounted by a delicately chased animal head, with jewelled eyes and a ball in its mouth. This pin, when not in use, rested in a hole at the lower end of the tablet, and was in this position when the time-piece was found. On the faces of the tablet are inscribed the names of the months, abbreviated and in pairs. At the top of each of the three columns is a hole for the pin when in use, and below each hole two spots. Of these the higher in each month, when the dial hangs free, indicates noon and the lower 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. marking the hours of the monks’ services. Along the edges runs the inscription: Pax Possessori—Salus Factori. The dial has been tested for accuracy by Dr. A. H. Smith of University College, London. The grouping of the months in pairs according to their equivalent distances from the summer solstice is based, it is to be presumed, on the table given by Bede for measuring the shadow of a six-foot gnomon. Dr. Smith finds that owing to its small size, the dial could only be approximately accurate. It would, however, be more or less correct at noon in latitude 53° N. at the middle of certain months, or early in others, while in the far north of England it would be more or less accurate through the summer months. At 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. it would be more or less accurate in late January, mid-February, mid-March, early April, early May, late July, mid-September, early October, early November and early December.