The Lambton Sundial

Built in 2007 –  the biggest sundial in Britain – with a “Gnomon”  made from recycled railway track , 50 feet high, and set at an angle of 54.86 degrees – the latitude here.

The sundial indicates the time by the Sun casting a shadow ,

from the long sloping edge of the Gnomon onto the side of the mound and onto the big standing stones ,

 which are the hour markers.

So, for example,  there is a tall thin stone directly in line with the Gnomon, this is the Noon stone , so at 12 noon , in the wintertime (1pm in the Summertime) the shadow from the Gnomon will fall straight onto this stone.

British Summer Time (BST) is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

And at the highest point of the mound the first big stone will pick up the shadow of the rising Sun at  5am in the Summer(BST)

The sundial will work , as long as the sun shines !, until about 9pm in the Summer – the rest  of the stones just representing the full 24 hours of the day.

Commissioned by Lambton Estate

Artist /Designer Ray Brooks

Earthworks – George Vardy

Steelwork – DJN Ltd

Stones – Alston Quarry