Year 2009

Sundial of the month January

Triple sundial
De Binckhorst, Den Haag

On the corner of a house, set in the brick wall, is a small cubic sundial.
The cube is not quite correctly oriented.
Three of the cube’s faces serve as sundials: an east dial, a south dial, and a west dial.

zw-09-01-01.jpg

The south dial still has distinct hour lines with Gothic style Roman numerals. The style triangle still is present.
The east dial hardly shows any lines or numerals at all.
The west dial does show lines and numerals fairly well.

zw-09-01-02.jpg

Because of the Gothic style of the hour numerals, it is conjectured that the sundial is of a respectable age, but no specific historical data are available.
The hour line pattern of the south dial is appropriate for a latitude of approximately 53.8 degrees, which is rather too much for The Hague (52.1 degrees).
It is quite possible that the sundial served elsewhere first, and was later moved here.

Fer de Vries

Address: The Binckhorst House, Binckhorstlaan 149, Den Haag

English translation: RH