Kea / St. Kea / Saint Kea

'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]