A compact 1714 sundial turns timekeeping into heraldic estate display through multiple faces, a coronet, heart and initials.
Quick facts
- Date
- Dated 1714
- Architect / designer
- Maker unrecorded; commissioned for the Reay estate
- Type
- Multi-faceted stone sundial on a square plinth
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB18459)
- OS grid reference
- NC 59205 58718
Architecture, archaeology and continuing use
The stone head offers several incised dial planes at different angles above a plain square support. Carved symbols and the initials “RR” connect practical solar measurement with the identity and status of the Reay household.
Its story
Installed during the Mackay occupation of Tongue House, the sundial predates the major 1750 expansion. Later landscape remodelling retained it as a focal object on the principal garden terrace.
Why it is included
The Category B sundial is a rare precisely dated small feature that gives human scale to the nationally important house and designed landscape.
What to notice
- Multiple incised dial faces set at different angles.
- The carved coronet, heart and “RR” initials.
- The simple square plinth supporting the complex dial stone.
Reading the surroundings
The sundial is within private garden ground. Do not enter to inspect it without permission, and never touch, chalk or clean the incised faces.
Timeline
- 1714 The dated sundial was made for the Reay household at Tongue House.
- 1892 MacGibbon and Ross published the feature in their national survey of Scottish domestic architecture.
- 1971 Separate Category B listing recognised the sundial as an individual heritage asset.
- 1987 The national landscape inventory recorded it within the terraced garden composition.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The initials are associated with Reay patronage, but the individual designer or carver has not been identified.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Tongue House Sundial, LB18459 — Designation status, mapped location, date, fabric and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Highland HER: Tongue House — Regional parent record linking the sundial to Tongue House, survey sources and estate photographs.
- Historic Environment Scotland: Tongue House designed landscape — Landscape context and recorded position of the sundial on the formal terrace.
Location
OS grid reference NC 59205 58718 · Location confidence: High: the national designation supplies an official mapped National Grid Reference; the independent source confirms the Place relationship, history or current identity. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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