Fife

The weathered remains of a horizontal sundial.

An exposed position on top of the cliff overlooking the harbour of Crail has tested the very fabric of this dial. The thick stone pedestal is barely clinging together and it has lost its all important metal dial plate but the gnomon is still there. Only the holes which formerly were the fixing for the dial plate remain to show its former existance.

Visited 29 June 2004 - Author

 

What a long day. This was when I was living in St Andrews for the summer and trying to get into training to walk Hadrian's Wall. I was lazy and only did just one walk as preparation but it was along the Fife Coastal Path. Along the way I passed this dial in Crail. It looks as though it was once an extremely accurate dial with a precisely marked dial plate - which is now missing. The position gains the maximum sunshine throughout the day but it is also very exposed to the elements. Hence it hasn't lasted well. At the time I wasn't terribly interested in it as it wasn't a very interesting design to begin with and it had lost all its former precision through weathering. Now when I see it I can almost imagine there is a tree trunk holding it rather than a stone pedestal. What a strange sight.

Crail itself is an amazingly picturesque place. The dial is actually on that small photograph of Crail directly beneath the little tower that appears to protrude from the cliff.

Other things of interest in Crail include the tolbooth and the old church. In the churchyard, towards the back left (as you enter) is an amazing Scots Renaissance tomb. Well worth a peak.