St. Thomas-by-Launceston / St Thomas nr. Launceston

Noted in Lysons (1806-1833) as one of a group of remarkable fonts in this county, "all nearly alike, being square at the top, with human heads at the corners, and circles inclosing [sic] stars on the sides, supported by serpents, &c." "The font is unusually large and of fine proportions constructed of polyphant stone". Several bibliographic sources (Bond, Cox & Harvey, Fryer, Paley, etc.) describe the Launceston font as one of a group of Norman fonts that display a head or mask at each of the four corners of the basin, while each of the sides is adorned with a large six-petal flower inside a round medallion. Paley (1844) even identifies the stone as "Exmill grey stone". However, on our on-site visit (July 1998) we found a Bodmin-type font - but in poor shape, completely recut - with the faces no longer identifiable [NB: could this be an error? Perhaps a reference to the font at Launceston?]. Since our latest bibliographic source are Cox & Harvey (1907) and Bond (1908), we assume that the font was re-cut in the 20th century. Noted in 'On the ancient stone fonts of Cornwall' (1851) as one of a group of "Fonts of very similar character are to be found in the churches of S. Nunn, Altarnun ; S. James, Jacobstowe ; S. Peter, Landrake ; S. Thomas by Launceston : and there are curious fonts of different character in the churches of SS. Mevan and Issi, Mevagissey ; S. Stephen by Launceston ; S. Andrew, Whitstone ; S. Marnarch, Lanreath, &c." Cox (1912) lists this as one of a group of Cornish fonts made from "hard Hicks Mill greystone", an "exceptionally fine Norman font […] with heads at angles and 4 circular ornaments on bowl ; bowl is 36 in. square and 20 in. deep on exterior." Listed in Stocker (1997) as one of a group of "early font bowls set within bases of successors". Stone (1955) describes it as the best example of the "Exe valley group" made up of thirteen such fonts. Illustrated in A Snap in Time [http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6818792] [accessed 25 November 2009].