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Invermay

Perthshire - NO 062160 - Stev 268 - Gatty 151 - Ross 418
Lat: 56:19:39N Lon: 3:31:06W

A complete and well travelled obelisk. It has a wedge boss with the corners completely cut away. There are two blank panels on the North side though no inscription or date. The hollows on the shaft are unusually deep. The dial shows stylistic connections with the obelisk at Drummond which is only ten miles from the dial's original home - Invermay.

From its original home it was moved to Pitcairns (2.5 miles from Invermay) in the 1930s and then to the lawn beside Wemyss Castle. This was where Somerville visited it and where I eagerly went. There I found it had been returned to its original home - Invermay.

When Somerville visited the dial at Wemyss Castle the shaft was 180º out of alignment and the finial 90º out and the boss was cracked.

Visited 15 September 1982 - A. R. Somerville

Visited (Wemyss Castle) 08 September 2006 - Author

Ross was very taken by this dial - seemingly because it was so different yet its development could be traced with just a few leaps of imagination.

An tantalising idea is raised by Somerville having a reference to the obelisk dial at Invermay being carved in Perth in 1640 by John Mylne. If so it would be just 10 years after the pioneering Drummond obelisk dial and be by the same master mason. The Invermay dial is notably different to later obelisks but clearly related to the Drummond obelisk if nothing else by its separation of boss from finial and base. They could both be seen as being the early experimental phase of obelisk design before it solidified as a typology.

I am extremely glad this dial has been returned to Invermay though I was rather disappointed not to see it on my visit to Wemyss Castle. When I arrived unannounced (it was short notice) I was met by a very suspicious head gardener who very kindly explained that the dial was no longer there but at Invermay. He then took me on a fascinating tour through the grounds to see a horizontal dial from the 1660s they had just found! Unfortunately I was not allowed to take a photograph of it.

Home Summary Analysis Dials by Location Dials by Type Dials by Date Contact Links	Invermay
	Perthshire - NO 062160 - Stev 268 - Gatty 151 - Ross 418 Lat: 56:19:39N Lon: 3:31:06W A complete and well travelled obelisk. It has a wedge boss with the corners completely cut away. There are two blank panels on the North side though no inscription or date. The hollows on the shaft are unusually deep. The dial shows stylistic connections with the obelisk at Drummond which is only ten miles from the dial's original home - Invermay. From its original home it was moved to Pitcairns (2.5 miles from Invermay) in the 1930s and then to the lawn beside Wemyss Castle. This was where Somerville visited it and where I eagerly went. There I found it had been returned to its original home - Invermay. When Somerville visited the dial at Wemyss Castle the shaft was 180º out of alignment and the finial 90º out and the boss was cracked. Visited 15 September 1982 - A. R. Somerville Visited (Wemyss Castle) 08 September 2006 - Author


	Ross was very taken by this dial - seemingly because it was so different yet its development could be traced with just a few leaps of imagination. An tantalising idea is raised by Somerville having a reference to the obelisk dial at Invermay being carved in Perth in 1640 by John Mylne. If so it would be just 10 years after the pioneering Drummond obelisk dial and be by the same master mason. The Invermay dial is notably different to later obelisks but clearly related to the Drummond obelisk if nothing else by its separation of boss from finial and base. They could both be seen as being the early experimental phase of obelisk design before it solidified as a typology.
	I am extremely glad this dial has been returned to Invermay though I was rather disappointed not to see it on my visit to Wemyss Castle. When I arrived unannounced (it was short notice) I was met by a very suspicious head gardener who very kindly explained that the dial was no longer there but at Invermay. He then took me on a fascinating tour through the grounds to see a horizontal dial from the 1660s they had just found! Unfortunately I was not allowed to take a photograph of it.