Llanrhian / Llanrian

Noted in the RCAHMW (Pembroke, 1925): "The font basin is in shape a decagon; nine of the panels carry a plain shield, the tenth bears a chevron between three ravens,* but the details are much obscured by the whitewash which has been thickly applied. The rim shows traces of a cover. The base is modern ; the original circular shaft (14 inches in diameter, by 9 1/2 inches in height), pierced with a drain, stands loose in the church.—Visited, 7th July, 1920." Described and illustrated in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as one of two "handsome decagons", an Early-English one in Wantage (Berkshire) and this "fifteenth-century bowl of typical Perpendicular style upon a modern pedestal". He mentions two others at Llangranog (Cardigan) and Hargham (Norfolk). The basin at Llanrian has blank Ogee windows on all its sides except one, "an inverted shield with the arms of Sir Rhys ap Thomas (temp. Henry VII) [i.e., 1485-1509]" (ibid.). The base of the font and the plinth are also polygonal and plain. Ditto in Lloyd et al. (2001). who gives the date of Sir Rhys as 1525, thereby dating the font as well to close to that date. The entry for this church in Birish Listed Buildings [https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300087554-church-of-st-rhian-llanrhian] [accessed 2 February 2020] notes: "C13 or C14 tower, cruciform nave of 1836 [...] chancel probably remodelled after 1845, stone traceried windows and internal alterations 1891 [...] Fine C15 or e arly C16 decagonal stone font with reversed shield plaques, one with arms of Sir Rhys ap Thomas (d 1525). Modern base."