The sundial pictured in the foreground of this photograph was installed behind Battell Fountain on the village green in 1904. An antique bronze plate acquired in London reads, “Our days are as a shadow and there is none abiding.” The sundial was purchased by Mary Eldridge, who had given the Stanford White-designed fountain in 1889 in memory of her uncle Joseph Battell. Mary and her sister, Isabella, lived in the Eldridge homestead, seen in the background of the photograph. It had recently been remodeled in the neoclassical style with a conservatory and Italian gardens in the rear. In this circa 1905 photograph, the lack of foliage and the shuttered windows suggest late winter. Bay trees line the walkways, and bulbs are beginning to bloom. After the death of the Eldridge sisters, the house was remodeled in 1936 into a community facility known as Battell House, and it is now home to the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. 

Text by — Ann Havemeyer
Photo courtesy of the Norfolk Historical Society