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Bicentennial Park was constructed in the early 1980s and was opened to the public in 1988 to celebrate Australia's Bicentenary in 1988. The Park’s design is based in the great historical landscape tradition based on classical design principles of order, geometry, focal points and axes. The Sundial, which is located between two of Bicentennial Park’s dense forest grids, creates a distinctive ambience in a clearing.
The top end of the 8m long, square cross-section steel gnomon of this sundial is used as a nodus point to indicate the date, with solstice and equinox date lines marked out on the terrazzo horizontal dial plate which is 30 metres across.1 Hour lines and declination lines are set as brass strips in a concrete base dial face.2 The Sundial is fully functional and the structure on which it is mounted faces onto a gentle grass slope - an ideal event venue that is available for hire.
The Sundial consists of a marble topped concrete ground slab with inlaid brass-work defining the time lines and periods of the calendar. A brick and structural wall set at one side of the slab is used to support the cantilevered time hand. Attached to the brick wall is an engraved panel and chart explaining the reading of the dial.
For more information on Bicentennial Park visit the Bicentennial Park Page.
