SUNDIAL SECTIONS:

Sundials Home

History of Sundials

Why the Sun Dial keeps time

Developing and Making Sundials

Sundial Materials

Sundial Hour Lines Lay out

Sundial "Furniture"

Declination Lines of Sundials

Portable Sundials

Interesting Sundials of the World

SUNDIAL MATERIALS - Page 10

Where the passerby could obtain more information from its faces than we can obtain from its successor, the town clock. Many pillar sundials may still be found in the rural districts of England, Scotland and Wales. THE POLAR sundial (Figure VI) The surface of the sundial lies parallel to the plane of the earth's polar axis. Like the equatorial sundial, the construction of the hour lines does not depend upon the latitude of its situation. It shows the time from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening. This sundial is not common and is seldom used except in combination with other sundials.

THE DECLINING sundial (Figure VII) There are four kinds of declining sundials; those facing the south, declining toward the east or west; and those facing the north, declining toward the east or west. They do not face the cardinal points of the compass and are exceedingly well adapted to use on walls of houses, churches or other buildings. The length of time the sun shines upon them varies according to the amount of their declination. They may be plain and simple or monumental in character.

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