Maristow / Marystow / Marystowe / Mary-Stow / Mary Stow

Listed in Lysons (1806-1822) as one of a group of square baptismal fonts in the county that are "for the most part supported by four pillars and a large pedestal in the centre". Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 reports "an ancient font" in this church. Described in Worthy (1887): "The font is a very fine example of pure Norman work. It is square with a circular bason, is in good preservation and is profusely ornamented with grotesque heads at the angles, and with an arcade of circular arches intersecting each other." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as having a baptismal font of the Norman period. Clarke (1921) writes that this is one of "a very interesting group of three fonts [Lifton and Stowford are the other two] which, though derived from the cushion bowls, retain none of their features except the corner masks. Maristow font appears to be the earliest. Like Ashwater and Bratton Clovelly [cf. Index entries] the rim is square in every dimension. At the angles it forms a cornice above the masks, below the masks the stone is chamfered off, so that in spite of its square appearance it is really an octagon. The main faces have an arcade of interlaced arches on three sides, making four lancet-shaped panelsand five triangular interspaces; on the north side there are only three panels, which are, of course, wider than the others. On the east and west faces the pilasters have a spare Norman abacus; this feature is preparing the way for the trefoil-headed lancet, as we shall see presently at Stowford; the panels are blank. The interspaces above on the east have each a trefoil, on the west two trefoils and a round pellet. On the north side at the point of each lancet-shaped panel is a conventional lily --the three-petalled fleur-de-lis (really the iris), which had so much vogue in the thirteenth century. The stem divides, curving to the right and left, joining the arches just at the spring, and taking the place of the square abacus on the east and west faces. Pointed trefoils fill the triangular interspaces: below the lilies the pabels are blank. The south face is similar to the north, though there are four panels instead of three, and the lilies are smaller, leaving more background. The central interspace is filled by a pointed trefoil, the side ones have groups of three pellets arranged as a trefoil. Above the interlaced arcades on all four sides is a carved band, 3 1/2 inches deep, consisting of a row of six four-leaved flowers. The corner pieces above the masks are rather narrow, and are perfectly plain." Noted in Pevsner (1952): "Norman, square, almost exactly as at Lifton."