Perranzabuloe / Peranzabuloe / Perran Zabuloe / Perranus in Sabulo / Perranzabulos / Pyran yn Treth

Noted in Lysons (1806-1833) as "octagonal, with very rude figures on four of the sides." Collins-Trelawny (1839) writes: "The Church, originally, contained also a very curious stone font, which fortunately has been preserved ; having been removed before the building was irretrievably buried in the sand. This font was transferred to the second Church, mentioned by Carew and Norden, and now stands in the third or present parish church at Lambourne." Poole (1842) comments on Collins-Trelawny: "The font, which is given by Mr. Collins as that of the church which he describes, is obviously much later than the erection of that church; indeed so late as to be of little value on account of the light which it throws on the antiquities of churches. The legs on which it is made to stand are of a more barbarous age than the font, or even the rude and simple church itself: there has been no time since the mission of St. Piran, until the reign of the Puritans, at which such a barbarism could have been committed as the perching a stone font on four wooden legs." Described and illustrated in Paley (1844) as a baptismal font of the Norman period: the octagonal basin has four plain sides, on which the four shafts of the base connect, while the other four have "figures very boldly but rudely executed, all in a sitting posture, and clothed in long robes [...] those on the north, west, and south sides are evidently intended to represent the persons of the ever blessed Trinity. That on the east side is occupied by the figure of the Virgin and the infant Saviour". Paley (ibid.) relates the disappearance of the original church and the consequent move of the font to the new one. The entry for Perranzabuloe in Murray's 1865 edition of the Handbook for travellers […] describes an earlier church or oratory: "The proofs of the high antiquity of St. Piran's 'Oratory', as the building has been called, are the absence of a font, the baptistery being at a little distance from the ch[urch]", and further notes that the new church, consecrated in 1805, "is said to have, in the nave, the piers, arches, and windows removed from this 2nd church. The font is Norman." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. Bond (1908) dates it to the 12th century. Cox (1912) does not give a date: "old square font, sculptured with the Virgin and Child and 3 of the Apostles." Pevsner (1970), on the contrary, suggests a much later date and notes: "Font. A piece of Volkskunst, octagonal, with little figures of the Virgin and three Apostles in niches; C15 probably."