Inclining dial for latitudes 0°-60° North. The hour-plate is hinged to the North side of the base-plate. Within the hour-circle, the brass gnomon is shaped and folds flat when not in use. The plate is cut away to reveal a silvered compass. It has a four-point rose and the cardinal and quadrantal points are designated by English initials. The degree scale for magnetic variation is divided 20°-0°-20°, and is indicated by a brass slider, manipulated from the outside, which moves in a slit in the wall of the compass. The latitude arc, divided from tip 0°-60°, is hinged to the West side of the base-plate. The obverse side of the base-plate contains a table of latitudes of European towns and cites.

The dial is signed 'Edm Culpeper Londini fecit' and it is a very fine example of Culpeper's work. Its case contains a manuscript in English explaining how to calculate magnetic variation. The occurrence of detailed latitudes for Moscow, Leipzig and Mons (with both degrees and minutes given) suggests that perhaps the instrument was made for an owner who made regular visits to these places. Unlike later versions of the inclining dial, this one does not have an openwork hour-plate and so the upper plate is cut away around the compass to allow the instrument to be oriented correctly. There is an identical dial in the MHS, Oxford (new inventory no. 33314). There is also a similar instrument in a private collection in Belgium.

For more information regarding this dial please refer to the OUP & NMM catalogue, 'Sundials at Greenwich'.