Berrynarbor / Berry Narbor

Visited, noted and illustrated on 14 July 1879 in Hutchinson's diaries and sketchbooks (2010). Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. Hussell (1910) reports the stem of the font as Norman: "the font is of stone -- the basin being modern, in the Norman style, mounted on what appears to be an old Norman stem." Described and illustrated in Clarke (1912) as probably the earliest of the scalloped-bowl fonts in Devon: "Each face has three cones, the slopes of which are conspicuous, as in a scalloped capital; at each corner is one large cone with two scallops, one on each face; at the point where these join the edge is carried well up towards the rim of the bowl, showing clearly its derivation from the plain cushion bowl. The slopes of the middle cones measure 6 inches, the corner ones 12 inches. The cones are separated by darts; there is a bold round moulding for necking, and a circular Norman shaft, which seems to be built up of several stones; this is shown clearly on the south side, the rest is thickly plastered. The circular base is composed of three mouldings, the lower one round, with two shallow curved chamfers above. The opening of the bowl is square, the edges both outside and inside are chamfered. There are patches of new stone on the north and south sides, and on the east and west the surface has scaled off. There is no lining, there is 6-inch square of cement round the drain-hole. On the north side a triangular gap in both base and and plinth show where at some time it was roughly cut away and fitted to a pillar, as may be seen at Sherwill." Described in Pevsner (1952): "Font. Square, Norman, with scalloped underside." Noted and illustrated in the CRSBI (2008): "Square plinth, flattened bulbous base with two concave mouldings above. Supported on a thick stem above a roll moulding is a large square font in the form of a triple scallop capital, with acutely pointed wedges between the cones. The rim is chamfered. The bowl has been recut and fine tooling marks are visible over its surface. The stem, base and plinth have not been recut and are worn and damaged. The support has been broken and repaired at some time and there is a large fragment missing from both base and plinth on the N. There are inserts on N and S rims and damage to E and W rims, and to the central scallop on the W face. Unlined. Of cream-coloured stone."