The Cannon Bridge House Sundial
Cannon Bridge House in London is at 25 Dowgate Hill, EC4R 3SB.
Unseen from street level it has
an extraordinary roof garden which astonishingly is about an acre (0.4 hectare) in size.
Installed at an original cost of around £500,000, Cannon Bridge Roof Garden
offers stunning views across London, from Tower Bridge to St Paul’s Cathedral.
The space has a lawn, trees and shrubs, making it more of a private park than a
green roof. It used to be open to the public – that is if you attended one of
the functions run by an event company at the venue. Sadly, it is now
closed to such events but it remains an amenity for those who work in the
building.
Cannon Bridge Roof Gardens is a simply stunning roof top terrace and garden with
incredible views across London. The space has to be amongst the most desirable
spots in London.
From the garden there are fantastic views of the Shard, the Thames, St Paul's
Cathedral and many other views of the capital. When it was open to the
public, a
reception at Cannon Bridge Roof Gardens used to be able to accommodate between
150 people seated or 500 people standing.
After the garden was closed to the public it was re-designed and
a sundial was erected to mark the opening of the newly laid out gardens in
September 1991 by the
Prime Minister of the time, Sir John Major.
The dial is marked Copyright 'Solstice' and
it (and the plaque's lettering) have been inlaid with black wax, some of which
is already pulling away. An equation of time scale provides a rough
correction for local mean time. A thirty two point compass lies at the centre
and the inner time scales are marked in 5, 15, 30 and 60 minute marks. An outer
scale is marked in 5 and 30 minute and hour divisions. Roman numerals read from
inside the chapter ring are used with the numeral four being IIII. The usual
Noon gap is provided to accommodate the thick gnomon..
Part of Shakespeare's 77th Sonnet provides the
dial's motto:
"Thou by thy dial's shady stealth mayst
know. Time's thievish progress to eternity"
Click on the entries in the photo album below to
see a larger image.
The dial maker is known only as Solstice from the Copyright statement.
SunInfo would like to know who actually designed and engraved this dial and
anything else that might be know of it. Information to the
webmaster@ppowers.com please.
[SunInfo]
28.01.18
