Sundial of Human Involvement

Completed in 1989, this 'analemmatic sundial' is a type of sundial that uses a person's shadow to tell the time. It is located on the top of Sundial Hill, where you will be able to enjoy spectacular 360 degree views of Mount Annan Botanic Garden and the surrounding countryside.

The Sundial of Human Involvement is a horizontal sundial that does not have any hour lines marked on it. Instead of hour lines, it has a series of fixed hour markers - in this case basalt columns from our Mount Tomah Botanic Garden in the Blue Mountains. The columns are located around the circumference of an ellipse so that the sundial looks a bit like Stonehenge! A person standing on the correct part of a central figure of eight (depending on the time of the year) casts a shadow onto the basalt columns, and this is how you tell the time.