Sundial

History

The sundial, like the garden statue, has proved to be an ephemeral garden feature. Sundials (also referred to as dials or dyals) have occasional presence in the written record of the American landscape. Perhaps like other utilitarian features, such as outhouses, they were not considered worthy of extensive descriptions. Nevertheless, eighteenth-century observers noted their presence and treatise authors espoused their value. In 1841, garden magazine editor C. M. Hovey was pleased to note the use of sundials, which he described as old but worthy ornaments that would contribute to the “finished” appearance of a garden.

“Sundial” was the term used to describe a planar device, typically made of wood, stone, or metal, designed to determine the passage of time by showing the shadow of the sun. Composed of a dial face and a gnomon, the sundial required an exposed, sunny location. As the sun passed overhead each day, the style (the straight edge of the gnomon) cast a shadow on the calibrated system of markings located on the dial. In addition to the obvious need for sunlight, the calibrations of the dial face and style had to be coordinated with calculations regarding the earth’s axis and latitudinal position. As outdoor markers of time, sundials could be fixed either vertically, sometimes attached to the exterior of a building, or horizontally. In the latter case, they were typically placed on pedestals, such as the cedar, locust, or mulberry posts that were specified in 1764 by the Kingston Parish in Gloucester County, Va. The pedestals on which they were situated could also be made of stone, as depicted in a view of the grounds at Blithewood, on the Hudson River in New York [Fig. 1]. This kind of elevated mount allowed both visibility and ease of use.

In private estate gardens, the position of sundials was governed by both practical and aesthetic concerns, as garden treatise writers noted. Sundials could be placed along major walks, drives, and other points of access [Fig. 2], where they acted as visual foci and accentuated the central axis of a house or landscape design, as was the case at several late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century sites. At Mount Airy in Richmond County, Va. [Fig. 3], and at Mount Vernon [Fig. 4], for example, the sundial was aligned with the central axis of the house and was placed at the center of the circular lawn created by the drive. The eighteenth-century plan for Bath (Berkeley Springs), Va. (later W.Va.), indicated a two-sided sundial located near the basin and bowling green, at letter “I” [Fig. 5]. Several nineteenth-century designs show the sundial placed in the center of either circular flower beds or parterres, as in the 1841 plan published in the New England Farmer.

The development of cast-iron sundials, mentioned in 1826 by J. C. Loudon, increased the availability of sundials and the variety of forms they could take. Hovey’s 1841 article also suggests that as the nineteenth century progressed and industrial manufacture accelerated, the production of sundials increased apace while their relative cost decreased.

With respect to form, nineteenth-century designer A. J. Downing insisted that if the sundial was placed within sight of the house, its design should be kept stylistically consistent with that of the house. The sundial at his own Highland Place, for example, was executed, as was the house, in the Gothic style.

Besides fulfilling a pragmatic function, sundials inspired poetic musings. Downing’s treatise discussion of the placement of sundials relied on evocative metaphors. He referred to the devices as “silent monitors of the flight of time,” and attributed a sense of “intelligence” to them. Since the garden often depended heavily upon sunshine for the growth of plants, and since its contents reflected the change of seasons, the sundial, as a symbol of time’s passage, was a logical addition to the space.

-- Anne L. Helmreich