The sundial in the Rookery, which was donated by the Friends of Streatham Common earlier this year to mark the Rookery’s centenary, has already been vandalised. The brass gnomon – the bit that casts the shadow onto the dial – has been wrenched off, also causing some damage to the slate surface of the dial.
The new sundial was a replacement for one that was stolen about three years ago. That one was all brass and probably taken for its value as scrap metal. We chose therefore to replace it with a sundial that was slate apart from the gnomon, the scrap metal value of which can be no more than a few pence, which is probably why it was found nearby rather than taken.