Probus

"A very curious olf font" is noted in 'On the ancient stone fonts of Cornwall' (1851): "It consists of a small, shallow bowl, square externally, and resting upon four square shafts, which are supported by a square base. It is very rude, and, as it bears the date 1661, must have been erected after the restoration." Noted in Murray's Handbook for travellers […] (1865) as a baptismal font "in the Perp[endicular] style". Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a Restoration baptismal font dated 1661. NB: Noted in Lysons (1806-1833) as one of a group of Cornish fonts that “are square, very little ornamented, and supported by a pedestal and four pillars”. Cox (1912) notes that the font is modern [NB: ***Are there two fonts in this church? -- A communication dated 1 March 2005 from Harry Gould [cf. Probus BSI print file], churchwarden at St Probus & St Grace, informs that only one font is now known in this church, a mid-19th century one described in Kent & Merrifield (2004): "The font is made of Caen stone. The bowl is panelled with quatrefoils and the shaft with niches. It is inscribed 'to God and his church. In memory of Sarah, the wife of William Stackhouse, elk., who died March 7, 1845; aged 69. Shields of arms display Stackhouse impaling three acorns.'" Harry Gould continues with a description of the object: "The font is octagonal and is mounted on a granite plinth, with a stand for the Rector to use during baptisms and is normally capped with an octagonal oak cover. There is no further information giving detail of a previous font, although there must have been one." [NB: there is no separate entry for the 19th-century font in this Index on account of its late date]