St. Columb Major
Results: 4 records
B01: design element - architectural - arch - Gothic
Scene Description: with a cross motif in it
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John L. Symonds, 2001
Image Source: courtesy of Dr. John Symonds
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received May 10, 2001
B02: design element - motifs - floral - 6-petal - in a circle
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John L. Symonds, 2001
Image Source: courtesy of Dr. John Symonds
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received May 10, 2001
view of font and cover
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John L. Symonds, 2001
Image Source: courtesy of Dr. John Symonds
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received May 10, 2001
INFORMATION
Font ID: 01507COL
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Date: ca. 1300?
Font Century and Period/Style: 13th - 14th century? / 15th century?, Early English? / Decorated?
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Columba
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Columba [aka Colmcille, Colomban, Columcille]
Church Address: St. Columb Major, Cornwall TR9, United Kingdom
Site Location: Cornwall, South West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off the A39, 12-13 km SW of Wadebridge
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Truro
Additional Comments: copy font / replica font?
Font Notes:
Click to view
Noted in Murray's Handbook for travellers […] (1865) as a baptismal font of the Early English period: "The font has grotesque faces, protruding tongues at each other, on the sides." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a noteworthy font example of the Decorated period. Noted in Cox (1912): "Octagonal font, with grotesque faces, is early I4th cent." Noted in Pevsner (1970): "Font, of c.1300, octagonal, with large crude faces on five sides in quatrefoils (four en face, one in profile) and tracery motifs otherwise." A recent photograph [cf. infra] shows an octagonal basin on the sides of which are carved different motifs; of the three sides visible in the photograph, the left has a Gothic window with arches and a cross motif in it; the centre panel has a large circle with a six-arm motif (six-petal flower?) inside it; on the right panel, a blind arch. The stem of the base is a broad cylindrical shaft with four clusters of constructional colonnettes, corresponding to every other side of the basin; the lower base is octagonal and plain. The plinth is octagonal and plain as well. The font cover is an octagonal lid with vertical sides of low rise, the upper part being hemispherical, of later date, probably 16th or 17th-century. [NB: the web site of Douglas Henwood [http://archiver.rootsweb.com] states that "The font is a 15th century copy of a Norman one", but does not provide any support for this statement]
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Dr. John L. Symonds, of Cronulla, NSW, Australia, for the image of this font
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 362210 5588878
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 50.43573, -4.9403
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 50° 26′ 8.63″ N, 4° 56′ 25.08″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, type unknown
Font Shape: octagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
LID INFORMATION
Date: 16th or 17th century?
Material: wood
Apparatus: yes [counterweight?]
Notes: [cf. Font notes]
REFERENCES
- Cox, John Charles, Cornwall, London: George Allen & Company, 1912, p. 82
- Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 193
- Murray, John, A handbook for travellers in Devon and Cornwall, London: John Murray, 1865, p. 226 / [http://books.google.ca/books?id=V_YGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=%22roborough+stone%22&source=bl&ots=2ZhOkO8ZIn&sig=RriwKcw-zwLPfFdGUaHE7WccPgU&hl=en&ei=QRWkSZHXMYjTnQe2ud2pBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPR5,M1] [accessed 24 February 2009]
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, Cornwall, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970, p. 166