A sundial was used to measure the moving shadow the sun cast by a vane and a scale. Not so handy in Britain with our often lack of sun, or sun hidden behind an overcast sky! As to the scale, it would be in hours: 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, 24 hours to a day. Personally, I prefer to tell the time from my wristwatch! Though sundials are often depicted, standing alone on top of a plinth and stone column in a churchyard, some sundials were fixed vertically on the church wall or church tower.