Plymouth No. 2

A baptismal font which had replaced the original font at St Andrew's in 1661 after the original font was destroyed in the Civil Wars [cf. Index entry for Plymouth No. 1 for the destroyed font]. Stabb (1908) writes: "The old font of 17th or early 18th century date was discovered in an old building yard in Plymouth by the late Mr. J. Brooking-Rowe. He acquired possession of it and presented it to St. Catherine's Church, Plymouth, where it now is. There is an inscription on a brass plate stating:— 'This Font was formerly in the mother church of St. Andrew's Plymouth having been placed there in the year 1661 in the stead of the ancient Font destroyed by the Great Rebellion was after many vicissitudes rescued from ruin and presented by a townsman to this church of St. Catharine's A.D. 1900.'" [NB: Joshua Brooking Rowe, 1837-1908, was a solicitor, barrister, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, of the Linnean Society, local and ecclesiastical historian, etc.; 'a prominent Plymothian']. Noted in Pevsner (1952) as being ca. 1660. [cf. Index entry for Plymouth No. 3 for the mid-19th century font now in St. Andrew's]