What's the Time?

This is a large sundial by the Tower Hotel.

A plaque on the base says

The sundial is one of man's oldest astronomical
instruments. In this particular form, known as an
Equinoctial Sundial, the dial is in the same plane as the
earth's equator and the gnomon, or rod, is parallel to the
axis of the earth pointing true north. The shadow of the
gnomon moving across the dial indicates the time. In
summer the shadow falls on the face of the dial, in
winter on the inner edge.
Due to a combination of the tilt of the earth's axis and
the varying speed of the earth's progress on its elliptical
path around the sun, the time indicated differs by
several minutes from the time shown by a clock which
measures mean time - an average of these variations.

Which boils down to ten past three.