Our mosaic human sundial celebrates our community’s centuries-old relationship with the river, and the diverse wildlife it supports.

The mosaic was designed and created by local artist Josie Webber. It features more than 20 native plants and animals nominated for inclusion by local people. The mosaic incorporates pottery fragments found in local gardens and allotments, including fragments of clay pipes.

How to tell the time

To tell the time, stand on the central board by the line marking the appropriate month. The position of your shadow on the marker stones reveals the time.

The sundial has been aligned to British Summer Time, as that is when we have most visitors – and sunshine – on site.

Flora and fauna

The sundial celebrates some of the plants and animals associated with the river and local wetlands. There are 22 species depicted on the marker stones, as follows:

9	Brown trout, roach
10	Kingfisher, dragonfly, reeds
11	Cormorant, dace, minnow
12	Otter, water vole, snake’s head fritillary
1	Grey heron, weeping willow, freshwater shrimp
2	European eel, ragged robin, great burnet
3	Pike, crayfish
4	Mallard, flag iris, depressed river mussel
5	Moorhen, great crested newt, greylag goose

Celebrating our river

The creation of the sundial was part of a larger project celebrating our centuries-old relationship with the river in west Oxford. The hydro shows that it is possible to harness the power of nature, in a way that can also enhance the ecology around us.

We were awarded a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £9,900 to support a series of community-based arts projects that celebrated the links between the local history of energy generation in west Oxford, and the local and global environment.

The sundial was the second phase of the project, which kicked off in 2019 with a river-inspired midsummer meander, delivered in partnership with local charity Low Carbon West Oxford.