New sundial misspells Camborne in Cornwall

A new sundial recognising Camborne in Cornwall, which was made by a community in Australia, has been mistakenly based on Cambourne in Cambridgeshire.

Photos of the new sundial presented by Moonta Lions Club in South Australia to celebrate historic mining links, revealed an extra ‘U’, and the longitude and latitude coordinates for the Cambridgeshire town.

Camborne Town Council said the black stone sundial was “beautiful” but refused to confirm if the photos it had been sent would be put on public display.

The BBC has approached the Moonta Lions Club for comment.

At a council meeting last week, an email was presented from the Australian group revealing the fundraising effort that had led to the creation of the sundial, with photos.

Mayor of Camborne James Ball said: “They were very proud to stand by the sundial and have the photos taken with it, but during the council meeting I noticed they had misspelt the name of our town.”

Hundreds of Cornish people migrated to Australia in the 19th century, with many miners settling in the town of Moonta, which has a population of just over 4,600.

“It is great that we’ve got these connections all over the world,” Mr Ball said.

“They are so passionate about knowing where their roots came from, so it makes you proud when you see these things and we get regular updates from them as well.”

Mr Ball hinted that maybe “a delegation” from Camborne could visit Moonta and “politely point out” the mistake.

When asked whether the photo of the sundial would be displayed in the town hall, he said: “I’m not sure that we’re going to be displaying it to be honest.

“Camborne residents are very passionate about our town and I think if we would have put it on public display, we might get a bit of kickback.

“But as a proud Cornishman, and a proud Camborne man, I would like to see our names represented all across the world and spelled correctly.”