Burlington City Arts

The Burlington Earth Clock

Circles for Peace

Oakledge Park
2007, granite
The Burlington Earth Clock is the first project of Circles for Peace, a Vermont grassroots non-profit organization that is based on the philosophy that inner peace and inner strength can be restored by witnessing the rhythms and cycles of nature.
The Burlington Earth Clock is a 43½-foot circle of 14 granite stones that creates a clock, compass and calendar. The stones weigh between 3.5 and 20 tons.  The Earth Clock measures the sun’s journey north and south along the horizon through the cycle of seasons.  In the center of the circle is a sundial.  When you stand on the date line in the center of the sundial, your shadow tells the time of day. 

Photo courtesy of David Brizendine.