Sundial

Description

Sundial of limestone with brass gnomon. Three chapter rings; Roman numerals mark the hours. Carved with oval rings, graduated in size. Four-pointed compass star below the gnomon; below is carved "Lat. 3653. / July, / 1816".

Notes

Even after clocks and watches were generally available, sundials continued to be used in Shaker communities. Once set with its shadow-casting gnomon parallel to the rotational axis of the earth, sundials, adjusted to correct for longitude and daily variations in solar time, were used to accurately set clocks. The origin of this sundial, which bears the date "July. 1876.", is uncertain. The date may commemorate the United States Centennial. A photograph from around 1910 shows an earlier sundial, missing its gnomon, mounted on a stone pier in the South Union Meetinghouse yard. One taken on July 14, 1918, shows this sundial set on top of the earlier sundial. It is likely that this sundial had been moved from another place to be used or displayed in the new location. A Canterbury visitor, probably Elder Arthur Bruce attending to the responsibility of selling the South Union property, brought the sundial back to Canterbury where, unfortunately, the calibrations set for the Kentucky location made it unusable in New Hampshire.[1] [1] Journal: see NOD 16,569 for source; Roger Gibbs and Robert Meader, "Shaker Clocks," National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Bulletin, Supplement No. 7, Summer 1977; Photographs: E.R. Pearson (copy), c. 1910 [NOC 17,716]; E.R. Pearson (copy), July 14, 1918 [NOD 17,601].