Vancouver  

Sundial: 925
State/Province:  British Columbia Country:  Canada
Dial Type:  Horizontal Dial Condition:  Excellent
  Latitude and Longitude: 49° 15.199' N  123° 14.791' W
Location:
  • Harold & Frances Holt Physic Garden, part of the University of British Columbia's Botanical Garden on SW Marine Drive at Stadium Rd., Vancouver. Open 10 am to 5 pm daily; separate admission and parking fees apply. Bus route #49.
 
Description:
  • A delightful dial in a delightful setting, well worth the modest admission fee. It is an 18 inch patinated bronze disk mounted on an elegant white granite pedestal, with the hours adjusted to the time zone. The face is a finely crafted bas relief delineated in quarter hours, with the hours labeled using Roman numerals. The lower part of the dial shows the Arms of UBC, along with the leaves and flower spikes of a plant. In keeping with the medicinal purpose of a Physic Garden, the sculpted gnomon features a snake (a traditional symbol for a physician) entwined around a poison chalice (a traditional symbol for a pharmacist). A plaque on the pedestal dedicates the dial to Frank Ebenezer Buck, 1876 - 1970, UBC’s first Landscape Architect. The pedestal is from the 1920s, predating the dial, and was used elsewhere in the Botanical Gardens for their now-lost original sundial.
 
General Information:Inscription:
  • Owner: University of British Columbia (UBC)
  • The dial is inscribed with the latitude and longitude for which it was made. As well, there is a label identifying the plant decorating the dial face as zigadenus venenosus (‘Death Camus’).
  • Designer:
  • Builder:
  • Construction Date: circa 1976
 

Last Revised: 2018-10-08 00:19