Erection date: 1955
{On an information plaque attached to the railings, in Olde English script:}
The Jelling Stone
This cast of the Jelling Stone is an exact replica of the larger of the two runic stones at Jelling, in Jutland, Denmark.
The Jelling Stone is one of the oldest Danish historical monuments and by far the most splendid of all Scandinavian runic memorials. It was erected about the year 980 A.D. by King Harald of Denmark, the grandfather of King Canute.
King Harald was the first Christian King of Denmark, and the runic inscription on the stone reads as follows:-
'Harald King made this memorial after Gorm his father and after Thyra his mother: that Harald who won for himself all Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christians.'
A figure of Christ and a figure of a lion in the grip of a serpent are depicted on the other sides of the richly ornamented stone which was originally painted in colours of red, blue, yellow and black.
Mr Axel Meller arranged for this stone to be erected on this site in 1955.
The stone was brought from Denmark for an exhibition of Danish Arts and Culture in the Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington, London.
This stone is actually a plaster replica of the original stone, at the National Museum of Denmark. Made in 1948 for a post-war Danish exhibition at the V&A, at which it sat outside on the pavement (Short British Pathe film), it then visited St Paul’s Cathedral and the Guildhall Museum before settling here in 1955.
Sources include: Ian Visits.
Site: Jelling Stone (1 memorial)
NW1, St Katharine's Precinct, Danish Church of St Katharine
London Gardens Online informs: These buildings, designed by Ambrose Poynter in 1826-7, were a replacement for St Katharine by the Tower, when it was demolished to make room for the dock.
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