Don's legacy decided by Sundial

An Oxford College has been left a share of the Sterling pound 888,000 estate of a former fellow, but will not get a penny, unless it agrees to put a sundial designed by Sir Christopher Wren back where it used to be, 120 years ago.

Throughout his academic life, John Simmons argued that All Souls had made a dreadful mistake in moving the sundial, recognised as one of the most beautiful in the world, to a different position in the quadrangle four-sided court (bordered by large buildings).

It remained a passion until his death last year at the age of 90.

His last will states that part of his estate, a sum not yet specified, will go to his former college if the sundial is removed from the wall of the Codrington Library and "re-erected where it was originally positioned by Sir Christopher Wren, that is to say, over the south front of the college chapel". Another condition requires the gravelled areas in the north quad to be paved.

A decision on whether the college fellows have agreed to the terms of the will was expected to be announced by John Davis, the College warden.

All Souls, which has a reputation for elitism (favouring of or dominance by a selected group) and ostentatious (showy display to impress people) intellectualism, has no undergraduates and its fellows, the pick of Oxford brains, are elected on the basis of their academic excellence.

Dr. Simmons, a leading Slavonic scholar, was an emeritus (honorary) fellow and became the College's historian. He was also an expert on sundials. Wren was also a fellow of All Souls and the sundial he designed dates from 1658.

It was moved in the 1870s, since when, traditionalists have argued that it should be put back to where Wren intended it should be. They claim that its removal upsets the symmetry of the North Quadrangle. It is also said that in its old position, the dial was so accurate that Oxford watchmakers set their timepieces by it. The relocation of the sundial was a well-known grievance of Dr. Simmons.

He even produced a spoof (imitation) postcard of the quadrangle that showed the sundial in its original position. After his death, friends said the greatest tribute the College could pay him would be to put the dial back.

Dr. Simmons published a history of All Souls and its buildings. He was a staunch (firm) defender of the College, denying that it was elitist, but agreeing that it was probably the most intellectual club in the world. He once remarked: "We may elect cranks (persons with strange ideas) but we don't elect fools".

He was well-known in Oxford circles, not least for the tie he devised and gave to friends who shared his belief in the "four Cs" - conserve, consider, contribute, co-operate.

The Daily Telegraph