Sundial at Priory Gardens, Kirklees Park
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1133846
- Date first listed:
- 02-Dec-1983
- List Entry Name:
- Sundial at Priory Gardens, Kirklees Park
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1133846
- Date first listed:
- 02-Dec-1983
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 15-Sept-2014
- List Entry Name:
- Sundial at Priory Gardens, Kirklees Park
- Location Description:
- Sundial at SE1756622048, within the garden of Priory Gardens, Kirklees Park, West Yorkshire
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Calderdale (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SE1756622048
Summary
Sundial dated 1617, re-set on a new plinth in 1911 and moved to its current position at Priory Gardens (still within Kirklees Park) in 1989.
Reasons for Designation
The sundial within the garden at Priory Gardens, Kirklees Park, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Date: as a good, well preserved example of an early C17 sundial;
* Historical interest: for the various inscriptions including the two versions of the Armytage coat of arms (1617 and 1911) and the two C20 inscriptions documenting the relocations of the sundial, which also contribute to the special interest of the structure.
History
The sundial is inscribed with the date 1617 and the Armytage coat of arms with the initials IA and W. The initials IA are thought to stand for John Armytage (either son or grandson of the John Armytage who bought the estate in 1565), the W probably being his wife's initial. Although it is not known where the sundial was originally positioned, it was probably near to Kirklees Hall as John Armytage (died 1624) is thought to have used Kirklees Hall as his residence, having built the Jacobean north front in 1610. The sundial was moved and set on a new base just within the ha ha to the south of Kirklees Hall in 1911 by Sir George John Armytage (6th Baronet). It was moved to its present position in 1989 by the widow of the 8th Baronet (whose initials were MMA).
Details
Sundial, 1617, re-set on a new plinth 1911, moved to current position 1989.
Sundial: thin, square stone slab set horizontally with a bronze (probably later replacement) gnomon and inscribed hour lines and chapter dial. The southern quadrant is inscribed 1617, the date split to flank the Armytage coat of arms, below which are the initials IA and W. The north east corner is inscribed:
CORRIGE PRETERITUM
REGE PRESENS
CERNE FUTURU
[learn from the past, regulate the present, discern the future]
The north west corner is inscribed:
UT HORA }
SIC VITA }
FUGIT'
[As the hours fly, so flies the day]
Plinth: square plinth with simple chamfered base and cap, set on an octagonal, flag stone step. The south face is inscribed:
SEMPER
PARATUS
SED SINE
SOLE
SILEO
[I am always ready, but do not speak without the sun.]
The north face carrys the Armytage coat of arms in relief and is inscribed:
RE-ERECTED
1911
GJA MGA
The west face is inscribed
ME HIC
POSVIT
MMA
1989
[MMA moved me here 1989]
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 338860
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
The listed building is shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 19-Jun-2026 at 11:48:11.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.