After the AGM in June two short presentations were given by Barbara Blatchley and Lord Dickinson. Barbara explained that sundials are a truly ancient time-telling system and that the Nutgrove sundial in Painswick, on the wall above the Pharmacy, is an excellent example of the horizontal style. Apparently the oldest mechanical clock, dated 1368, in England is in Salisbury Cathedral.
Recently the lifting of the Hyett ledger tombs in Gloucester Cathedral was the subject of considerable media coverage and Lord Dickinson described how he had been approached by cathedral staff informing him of their intention to install a lift on or near these, his ancestors’, tombs. It was deemed necessary therefore to determine who was in fact interred beneath. The lift will be part of a massive project to improve the cathedral experience for visitors. Lord Dickinson read from Francis Hyett’s family history which notes that the Hyetts were not, apparently, exceptional in any way. He briefly described the lives of some past Hyetts including the death by smallpox of eight children in one branch of the family.
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