Big day today: we visited the RSN (Royal School of Needlework) at Hampton Court Palace. We enjoyed an excellent talk by the Chief Executive, Dr Susan Kay-Williams, on the history of the RSN, some of the amazing work done by its students, and its current programs. We also had a tour of the current exhibit. No photography was allowed at the RSN so I have no embroidery pictures to show but I did take a few of the Palace and gardens.
The clock was installed in 1540 on the gatehouse to the inner court. This pre-Copernican and pre-Galilean astronomical clock is still functioning.
The clock is 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter with three separate copper dials revolving at different speeds and displays the following information:
Hour
Month
Day of month
Position of the sun in the ecliptic
Twelve signs of the zodiac
Number of days elapsed since the beginning of the year
Phases of the moon
Age of the moon in days
Hour when the moon crosses the meridian and thus high water at London Bridge.
The latter information was of great importance to those visiting this Thames-side palace from London, as the preferred method of transport at the time was by barge, and at low water London Bridge created dangerous rapids. [info from Wikipedia]
The decorative brick chimneys were an important part of the 1514 design for the palace. Today it still has 241 of them.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment