Horizontal pedestal dial for latitude 52° North. The square base has a screw hole at each corner for the attachment of the dial to a base. The hour circle is numbered clockwise IIII-XI, [XII], I-VIII, divided to 30 minutes. The shadow is cast by a triangular brass gnomon with a shaped vertical edge. It is signed, ‘Humfrae. Colle. 1582’, in the hour-circle.

Humfrey Cole was the finest of the Elizabethan instrument makers. This dial shows the simplicity of style often favoured by early English makers and contrasts strikingly with the ornate quality of the Cole compendium in the Museum’s collection, see AST0172.

For more information regarding this dial please refer to the OUP & NMM catalogue, 'Sundials at Greenwich'.