Here stood the house where Mendelssohn wrote the Spring Song, 1842.
The terracotta base is decorated with Tudor roses. The original sundial was "scored with a part-notation of the music".
Over time the condition of the monument deteriorated. The bronze sundial was lost and the terracotta base had several, poorly repaired, cracks. Heritage of London Trust and Lambeth Council restored this base. A replacement sundial was created based on surviving records and images.
Site: Mendelssohn sundial (1 memorial)
SE15, Ruskin Park, Labyrinth Garden
In 1942 the Mendelssohns stayed in Dane House with their relatives, the Beneckes, and later the Benecke family erected this sundial in their garden to commemorate the Mendelssohn visit. The information board has a photo of the sundial in its original position, on the edge of a lawn around which runs a curved path.
In 1904-7, Dane House and 7 other houses were demolished so their sites and their gardens became part of the public Ruskin Park. In 1910 the Beneckes gave the sundial to the Park and it was repositioned, near the corner of Denmark Hill and Ferndene Road. This made the inscription a lie, since that location had never been part of the Dane House garden. Then in 2021 the sundial was repaired and moved to its current location, making the inscription truthful again.
Our photo is taken from the Wisteria arcade on the southern edge of the enclosed Labyrinth Garden.
Sources include: The , , , a nearby information board.
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