Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
A retired civil servant takes on the tenancy of a house which has lain empty for some time. Upon renovating the garden, he identifies the perfect location to erect a sundial – but it soon becomes clear that others may have a claim to the spot... The story starts at 00:01:00
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to exclusive content):
* Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/bitesizedaudio
* Monthly support on Patreon: patreon.com/bitesizedaudio
* Donate via PayPal: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HMMUWZ7URN26A
* Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com
* Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 / £1 / €1 per month:
youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/join
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:00 The Sundial
00:31:30 Credits, thanks and further listening
For a selection of Victorian and Edwardian ghost stories by various authors, including Charles Dickens, Amelia Edwards, Edith Nesbit, H. G. Wells, and many more: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi95qAoufCZISCGdeBUtYxynNFtZCeRrv
About the author: Richard Henry Malden (1879–1951) was an Anglican clergyman and scholar. Ordained in 1905, he went on to serve in various positions in the Church of England, most notably as Vicar of St Michael and All Angels Church in Headingley, Leeds, between 1918 and 1933, and subsequently Dean of Wells from 1933–1950. He enjoyed a long friendship with M. R. James, some 15 years his senior – an association which apparently inspired him to write a few supernatural tales of his own.
At the age of 63, Malden published a single volume of nine ghost stories, appropriately titled 'Nine Ghosts', in 1943. In the preface to the book he states that the stories were "written at irregular intervals between the years 1909 and 1942" and declares his intention "to make some attempt to continue the tradition" of M. R. James; "They are in some sort a tribute to his memory, if not comparable with his work". Three of the nine stories had previously appeared in magazine publication, 'The Sundial' being one of them: it was first printed in Leeds Parish Church Magazine in December 1930. The debt to James, with particular echoes of his story 'The Rose Garden', is clear.
Malden died in August 1951, aged 71, having retired from Wells Cathedral just a year earlier.
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2025.
A retired civil servant takes on the tenancy of a house which has lain empty for some time. Upon renovating the garden, he identifies the perfect location to erect a sundial – but it soon becomes clear that others may have a claim to the spot... The story starts at 00:01:00
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to exclusive content):
* Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/bitesizedaudio
* Monthly support on Patreon: patreon.com/bitesizedaudio
* Donate via PayPal: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HMMUWZ7URN26A
* Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com
* Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 / £1 / €1 per month:
youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/join
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:00 The Sundial
00:31:30 Credits, thanks and further listening
For a selection of Victorian and Edwardian ghost stories by various authors, including Charles Dickens, Amelia Edwards, Edith Nesbit, H. G. Wells, and many more: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi95qAoufCZISCGdeBUtYxynNFtZCeRrv
About the author: Richard Henry Malden (1879–1951) was an Anglican clergyman and scholar. Ordained in 1905, he went on to serve in various positions in the Church of England, most notably as Vicar of St Michael and All Angels Church in Headingley, Leeds, between 1918 and 1933, and subsequently Dean of Wells from 1933–1950. He enjoyed a long friendship with M. R. James, some 15 years his senior – an association which apparently inspired him to write a few supernatural tales of his own.
At the age of 63, Malden published a single volume of nine ghost stories, appropriately titled 'Nine Ghosts', in 1943. In the preface to the book he states that the stories were "written at irregular intervals between the years 1909 and 1942" and declares his intention "to make some attempt to continue the tradition" of M. R. James; "They are in some sort a tribute to his memory, if not comparable with his work". Three of the nine stories had previously appeared in magazine publication, 'The Sundial' being one of them: it was first printed in Leeds Parish Church Magazine in December 1930. The debt to James, with particular echoes of his story 'The Rose Garden', is clear.
Malden died in August 1951, aged 71, having retired from Wells Cathedral just a year earlier.
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2025.
