Sundial Donibristle House

Image: © Simon Johnston Taken: 2 Nov 2008

Donibristle House clock. It appears to be about two hours fast today. At 11.25am on my watch it read a little after 1:30pm. My initial guess was that it could have been installed at a time when folks observed British Double Summer Time (BDST). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Summer_Time However it bears inscription on the face MCMXCVII (1997) so I remain unconvinced. As well as the BST issue there is discrepancy between what we consider the correct time and what might be seen on a sundial at any time of the year. There are slight variations due to leap years and it can be seen that on four days in the year, about April 16th., June 14th., September 2nd., and December 25th., no correction is required and the sun time will agree with clock time. The maximum deviation occurs on November 3rd./4th. when around 16 minutes must be subtracted from the time given by a sundial...er...if it's set correctly. http://www.sundials.co.uk/equation.htm Well, this site http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A558353 tells us that they can be up to two hours fast for a reason...that the dial is set to 'local time' rather than 'official time'. I don't think the boss would swallow that excuse on Monday morning! I've often wondered... "Need anything from the shops, Dear?" "Ooh yes, please get me some grout, Luv. I need some to put the clock back"

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0