Kea / St. Kea / Saint Kea

Results: 2 records

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01096KEA
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century / 15th century, Medieval
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Bodmin type
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of All Hallows [originally from the old church dedicated to St. Kaius or Kea]]
Font Location in Church: Inside the 19th-century new church
Church Patron Saint(s): All Saints [old church dedicated to St. Kaius, aka Kea]
Church Address: The Church Office, Churchtown, Kea, Truro TR3 6AE, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1872 262868
Site Location: Cornwall, South West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located just SW of Truro, accessible via the A39
Additional Comments: recycled font: originally from the old church
Font Notes:
'On the ancient stone fonts of Cornwall' (1851) notes: "In the church of S. Kaius, Kea, near Truro, is a beautiful Norman font, which I consider to be one of the most striking of its kind. It was removed from old Kea church, when the present frightful edifice was erected. The bowl, which is circular, and of large dimensions, rests upon a central pier, and four angular shafts, which support heads. On two of its sides are carved floriated ornaments, on the third a dragon, and on the fourth a cross within a circle. It must have been carelessly removed, for the bowl is so cracked that it will not hold water; this might be remedied by lining it with lead. It has a new flat cover of oak." Romilly Allen (1884) writes: "The cross symbol does not occur frequently on fonts of the Norman period. Early examples are to be found at Llanfair y Cymwd, and at Llan Jestyn, in Anglesey [fn], also at Kea, in Cornwall" [footnote: "Archaeological Journal, vol. i, p. 126"]. Described in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Early English period ornamented with "dragons or salamanders". Listed in Cox (1912) as one of a group "of characteristically Cornish design […] excellent old Norm[an] font, with angle shafts of the Bodmin type, 39 in. high, and 31 in. in diameter" [Cox (ibid.) footnotes the enry: "For description and illustrations of this font, see Reliquary, N.S., x, 206-8"]. Cox (1923) shows what appears to be a hemispheric bowl on four columns plus cylindrical central column base. Pevsner (1970) writes: "the main object of interest is the Font. This is Norman, of Bodmin type, with five supports, heads at the four corners, and on the sides the tree of life twice, and once a cross and a lion passant." Illustrated in A Snap in Time [http://www.caerkief.co.uk/Churches/Kea.html] [accessed 17 November 2009]

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 355653 5566825
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 50.235946, -5.024133
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 50° 14′ 9.41″ N, 5° 1′ 26.88″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, type unknown
Font Shape: hemispheric, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round (with heads)
Diameter (includes rim): 77.5 cm*
Font Height (less Plinth): 97.5 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * [in inches in Cox (1912)]

REFERENCES

  • "On the ancient stone fonts of Cornwall: a communication", 83 (April 1851) / New Series no. 47, Ecclesiologist, 1851, pp. 96-102; p. 97-98
  • Allen, J. Romilly, "Notes on Early Christian Symbolism", N.S., VI, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1884, pp. 380-464; p. 395
  • Clarke, Kate M., "The baptismal fonts of Devon -- Part VI", 51, Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, 1919, pp. 211-221; p. 213
  • Cox, John Charles J., English Church Fittings Furniture and Accessories, London: B.T. Batsford, 1922, Photo: pl. 70 on p. 91 and p. 88
  • Cox, John Charles, Cornwall, London: George Allen & Company, 1912, p. 17, 131
  • Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 189, 193
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, Cornwall, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970, p. 84