Sundial House, Marine Parade, Lyme Regis, Dorset

This building together with Library Cottage were on the same article of my late website because I only had two photos of Library Cottage at the time. It seemed a shame to use separate pages for two quite short articles, plus they are situated next door to each other and form part of an architectural listing group. However, I've since taken more photos of Library Cottage, and also some of other interesting buildings on Marine Parade, so for the blog I'm going to create a new series with a post for each of them. 

New project, yay! ;)

Appropriately, the name of this charming Grade II listed house is called Sundial.  Built in 1903,  it was designed by the architect Arnold Mitchell, who also designed Library Cottage, as well as the delightfully Hobbit-like Umbrella Cottage, which can be seen in the previous blog post. The wonderful sundial that has given the house its name is large, headed by a delightfully fat grinning sun and edged with ebullient foliage curlicues...or twiddly bits, as I like to call them. ;) The motto beneath is HORAS NON NUMERO NISI SERENAS, which roughly translates as "I do not count the hours except the bright ones". Such a beautifully appropriate epithet.

Constructed in blue lias rubble and dressings in contrasting stone, the building comprises four storeys and two window bays above a square headed doorway with studded door which is reached by eight stone steps. Two-light mullioned windows are on the first and second floors, situated to the left of the four-light splayed bay windows, with two-light mullioned windows on the third floor. The eponimous sundial is situated on the window bay between the ground and first floors. A stone rubble wall with two entrance doors (a close-up of one, above) separates the forecourt from Marine Parade.

Two fabulous large ammonite fossils are set into the wall above two slits, and at least one other in the wall of the house itself, signifying the importance of the area for fossils and the contribution made to science by the palaeontologist, Mary Anning.

The first four photos were taken in 2009; these two were taken much earlier in 1996. Almost identical, the amonites and tops of the entrances can be seen in the first, whereas the second one shows the roof detail of the parapet with a moulded string at the base.

And the last photo, taken in 2016, with its next door neighbour, Library Cottage - article coming up next.