"Producing high quality sundials based on classic Georgian design and craftmanship"

Being an antique clock restorer and dealer for over 20 years I have bought and sold some beautiful 18th and 19th century sundials.  The antique dials that we bought often did not have plinths and those that did were very expensive, but primarily they were hard to replace.  This scarcity germinated the idea of making replace ments, therefore the approach to making these sun dials has been with the antique aesthetic and sensibility in mind. Sun dials are more complicated than they first appear and their use in an English period garden was more than decorative.  Before the advent of the railways and the standardisation of time, towns, villages and estates used local time as indicated by the sun's shadow.  This could be something as simple as a noon mark or dials with many complications, all however had to be calculated for attributes of the location, primarily the latitude.

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The methods behind the manufacture have the same emphasis as on high quality clockmaking and restoration.  Primarily the cast bronze sheet is ordered from the foundry, finished to remove the pitting then engraved and because each dial is made to order personal details can be added by hand. The plinths are made from crushed and reformed Derbyshire limestone using the same techniques employed in the restoration of period buildings.  The reconstituted stone has the same capacity to weather and soon develops a natural patina. The dials can be patinated but again the bronze will colour nicely in time. For further information please contact us.  For antique clocks visit us at www.antiques-clocks.co.uk.

Neill Robinson Blaxill F.B.H.I. Horologist - Website: www.antiques-clocks.co.uk 21 St Johns Hill, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 3NX, Tel: 01732 454179, Email: info@hyperiondials.co.uk Sundials  -  Enquiries  -  Home Site Design by Meteor Web Marketing