Landcross / Lancross

Cox & Harvey (1907: 195) mention the font at Lancross [sic] as being ornamented with cable moulding motif. [NB: a font corresponding to their description exists at Landcross, located near Bideford, in an area of Devon with listed fonts of similar characteristics (e.g.: Bulkworthy, Putford, etc.) - cf. Index entries for these sites]. This cushion bowl font is described and illustrated in Clarke (1919): "The font is inserted in a curious way into oak panelling placed against the western wall; the central panel has a semicircular arch under which the font stands, and on each side is linen-fold pattern. The wood almost touches the shaft, and comes over part of the cable moulding at the base, and the western side of the bowl is hidden to the depth of four inches. The shaft is encircled at the top by a band of chevron, 3 inches wide, and at the foot by a cable measuring 2 1/2 inches. We have just noticed these effective ornaments at Eggesford, but there they are modern work; at Landcross they are original. They are seldom met with in fonts of this type, indeed had practically dropped out of use in most parts of the country; but they were retained in Cornwall, where they are found on fonts as late as the fifteenth century, and at Landcrosss they show the same taste and feeling as prevailed in the adjoining county. The bowl, shaft, base, and plinth are original, but the lowest platform is modern. The material is a grey stone which still bears traces of paint and whitewash, which are better left there than scraped out. The inside of the bowl is square; it is unlined." Noted in Pevsner (1952) as Norman.