In 1904, Fletcher Moss designed a stained glass sundial window for his library at the Old Parsonage (now Gallery 2). The window was removed after his death in 1919, but there are photos of the window in his books.

Stained glass sundial windows are very rare. There are about 44 in the UK, and many no longer work because they have been moved from their original locations. (A complete list has been compiled by John Carmichael.)

To restore the window, the Didsbury Parsonage Trust worked with Frank King and Mike Shaw from the British Sundial Society and John Carmichael from NASS, who generously volunteered their time and expertise.

When Mike Shaw measured the building, he found that Fletcher Moss had made an error, making the original sundial about 10 minutes out. This verified stories about Fletcher Moss using his sundial to inform St James’ church of the time, and always being 10 minutes out!

The pictures of the original sundial are black and white, so how to decide on the colours for the restored window? Luckily, the beautiful front door of the Parsonage, still intact, was also designed by Fletcher Moss himself, so the colours from his door were used for the window.

Fortunately, some parts of the original window remained, including the inscription at the base and six roundels.

The restoration took many months of work, including discussion on the design, and the mathematics, of the sundial and its setting. Decisions were made about the best typeface to use, and how to align the window with the building’s other decorative features. The leaves chosen for the dial replicate those in the cornice of the room.

Traditionally, a stained glass sundial would have a fly painted on the glass, to illustrate that ‘time flies’, but here a worker bee has been used, as the symbol of Manchester.