The Adderley Sundial has a long history and Geoff Butter has spent time trying to piece together the story which, in many ways, reflects the changing story of the village. Here are some of the fragments that he has pulled together.
I have been researching the sundial that stands in front of St Peters Church on the Green and have come to the conclusion that it’s in its 3rd resting place. It first stood outside the 2nd Adderley Hall in the 18802. The Corbets rescued The Village Market Cross and used it on the face of the sundial. The cross was in the form of a crucifix which was defaced during the reformation. When the hall was demolished in 1954/55, Sir John Corbet took and erected the dial at Poolhouse Farm. Sir John left Adderley in 1958 to live at Acton Reynold, Shrewsbury. Before he left he presented the sundial back to St Peter’s Church and Adderley.
Geoff believes that more research is needed but believes the above account to be true. The source for this research was a 1958 newspaper cutting from the Staffordshire Sentinel:
In 1958 The village cross, an heirloom dating back to the 14th century, was returned to the residents of Adderley, Market Drayton, last week – in the form of a sun dial.
It stood at a cross roads near to the present canal. The cross in the form of a crucifix, was defaced during the reformation.
The Corbet family, of Adderley Hall, rescued the remains of the cross and turned it into a sun dial. It stood in the grounds of the hall until five years ago when the hall was demolished. Sir John Corbet then erected the sun dial at nearby Pool House.
Sir John is now leaving Adderley to live at Acton Reynold, Shrewsbury, and he has presented the sun dial back to Adderley.
It has been placed outside St Peter’s Church, Adderley.
There are two small picture maps (shown below) one from 1780 shows a sundial at the entrance to Home Farm near Raven House. The other, from 1870, shows a sundial at the beginning of Rectory Road in an area that Geoff believes was the village green.
The photographic evidence shows the sundial outside Adderley Hall in 1880 and a picture from the 1950’s showing it outside St Peter’s Church.
Click image to view full size
Geoff also cites a piece from “Adderley and It’s Church” by Reverend Canon Hibbert:
The market cross stood at the corner where Rectory Lane branches off. When the Reformers reformed away all such reminders of Christianity its broken shaft was used for a sundial, and when the Hall was built some 70 years ago it was taken there to adorn the site. There was also in this corner a pound for straying cattle. Part of the Churchyard cross, dug up about 1880 while digging a grave, is under one of the Yew trees in the Churchyard.
Geoff Butter added further information about the history of the sundial in 2024.
“Whilst out walking one day with my wife Shirl, we stopped to talk to an old gentleman. We had seen many times walking his dog. But this time he was by himself. We asked him about his dog. He said it had died a few months back and he then said his wife had died a few weeks ago.
So sometimes, it seemed appropriate to talk to him longer than normally we would. He started to tell us a bit about his life and one bit in particular. When he was a gravedigger working for Market Drayton Council. He had dug some graves in Adderley and proceded to name people I knew.
Then he said things about the monument in front of the Church (Sundial), he then said that he helped to erect in front of the Church. It was in 1957. They collected it from Pool House, Adderley. I told him I had done some history on the Dial and its location in Adderley. He was taken back how I knew this date. It was under the orders of Sir John Corbet who was leaving Adderley, so had it moved Church green. The gentleman’s name is John Scarratt, a well known family from Market Drayton. Just a bit more proof about the Sundial final resting place and exactly what I had researched, but this gave it a human touch. It seemed to please him as I told him I would mention this in the archives. So just a little bit of time to stop and talk made his day and ours.”