The English Globe is the only known immobile globe, its sphere fixed in position on a pedestal, rather than being held in a meridian ring that could be rotated in a horizon band (Image 1). The English Globe constitutes the only known truly Ptolemaic globe, representing the Earth as stationary rather than moving, as it is in the Copernican system. The Earl of Castlemaine did not believe in a geocentric universe but constructed the globe in this way to make it more practically useful: the presence of lead shot, shown in image 2, shows that this sphere was originally intended for a turning globe. As described by Castlemaine in The English Globe, published in 1679, the globe's novel construction meant that it could be used to solve many conventional practical globe problems.
Outdoor globe use
The sphere of the English Globe was set above a planisphere appropriate for the latitude of London and was fixed with the south of England uppermost, parallel with the horizon. This meant that when composed (that is, levelled and orientated north-south in the Sun's rays) the English Globe was an exact replica of the Earth itself. Most of the English Globe's many functions, as described in Castlemaine's publication, required the globe to be used outside on a fine day so that the rays of the Sun fell on the sphere as they did on the Earth itself. Many of the English Globe's functions pertained to dialling, the art of constructing and using sundials, which became increasingly popular in the course of the 17th century.
