The sundial was erected in the garden in 1913 having been designed by Sir Lucius William O’Brien who undertook a modernization of the garden over the preceding 15 years.

The base of the sundial is designed to resemble a stack of books and the plinth is inscribed as follows

“Not grief but joy shall last
The day and the night abide
And all times shadows earthwards caste
Are lights upon the other side