1. Elizabeth Chambers Memorial Sundial – featuring the College motto, ‘By Love Serve’ 

Betty Chambers was a student at St Cuthbert’s from 1924 to 1935 and subsequently taught at the college from 1939 to 1944. She died aged 25 and her parents gifted the sundial in her memory. It was created by sculptor Richard Oliver Gross, whose works can be seen at the entrance to the Auckland Domain and at Auckland Boys Grammar School. Originally situated close to Elgin Hostel, the sundial is now located by the Chapel.

The Memorial Sundial – Unveiling and Dedication

The sundial, which has been given to us by Mr and Mrs Chambers in memory of their daughter Betty, is a lovely addition to the school. The base, the standard and the dial itself are of beautiful design, the work of Mr Gross, the Auckland sculptor; the inscription and the badge are surrounded by bronze ornamentation. On 7 December 1945, the memorial was unveiled and dedicated at a most impressive service. Mr and Mrs Chambers were present, and the staff and school assembled round the plot where the dial stands. After the National Anthem, the Reverend Bower Black gave a short address, in which he likened the qualities of Betty’s life to those of the sundial; a quiet thing that does its work unceasingly, without ostentation and without calling attention to itself, as it stands in God’s sunshine. Mr Black reminded us of the ‘abiding things of which our own School Chapter, I Corinthians xiii, tells: faith, hope, love. We must seek those things more, he told us; they were the things which Betty had sought; she had been full of faith, and her love had expressed itself in unstinted service to her school, her home and her church. Mr Black urged us to think of the meaning of all this when we pass the sundial: to be inspired by her example, and to live more fully in the sunshine of God’s love. Just as he was speaking, the sun, as though to give more significance to the words, shone through a grey curtain of cloud, and the sudden brightness shed on the monument gave added solemnity to the exhortation. The Reverend J. W. McKenzie then unveiled the memorial and spoke the words of dedication. This was followed by a prayer and the singing of the school hymn, ‘By Love Serve’. This short but lovely service closed with the Benediction. 

Chronicle 1946, p. 31 

‘By Love Serve’ – The St Cuthbert’s College motto, introduced by first Principal Miss Isobel Macdonald in 1915. 

‘By Love Serve” emphasises a commitment to selfless service, leadership, and responsibility to community and others. The motto encourages students to act with empathy, give back to the community, and strive for personal growth through selfless actions, rather than for gratitude or reward.