CROPTON village hall hosted the eagerly-awaited unveiling of the village's new sundial.

The mosaic and ceramic sundial has been made by the villagers, seen here with artist Janet McKay, and is the first of three modular projects planned in Cropton, near Pickering, in the build-up to the Millennium.

The sundial is ammalematic. Janet McKay explains: "Amm means without and alem means upright. The sundial hasn't got the usual centrepiece. To tell the time, the observer stands in the middle, with their feet on either side of the pointer. The dates are on the sundial. You put your instep on the month and the shadow casts the time of day."

It is a project that has taken a lot of work, but has been rewarding, said Janet. "The original idea came from me, after talking to Angela Hayward of Rural Arts North Yorkshire," she said. "I put the designs together, then the villagers made the mosaics and I did the ceramics. The mathematics were done by a diallist from Kirkbymoorside called Scott Kerstin.

"It has been a group activity and some of the group didn't think they were creative. This project has shown them they can be.

"We used the indirect method of mosaic, which produces a very flat surface. It lasts for centuries. Examples have been found that are up to 2,000 years old."

The sundial depicts the history of the village on its ceramic tablets and will be placed outside the village hall.

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