Analemmatic dials

Merlet College, Cuijk

This dial is laid out right in the main entrance to the school grounds, just behind the gate. Thus, full advantage is taken of the absence of any vertical elements.

The major axis is 6 m (20 ft), an appropriate size. The date line has been engraved into four slabs of granite, marked per month. The hour points are granite tiles. Hours run from 4 to 21 hr Central European Time.
The pictures suggest that the characters are filled with black paint, but that is just rain water.

The blue-grey granite contrasts nicely with the reddish bricks. And the herringbone pattern avoids interference between pavement and the date line as in Peer.
Summarizing: a simple but very attractive layout!

The dial has been constructed at the occasion of the school's 10th anniversary. A merlet is a heraldic figure, a little duck without beak and legs. As many as eight of them are floating on the coat of arms of Cuijk, which has been derived from that of the former County of Cuijk.

Location: 51.7° N, 5.9° E
Design: J.J.G. Baltussen
Inauguration: July 1986