Truro

Cox (1912) reports one of a group of Cornish fonts, a "good octagonal font of Caen stone, with wellcarved panels", a relic from the old Church of St. Mary, of which some portions were incorporated in the new cathedral built in the 1880s. Illustrated in A Snap in Time [http://www.caerkief.co.uk/Churches/TruroSM.html] [accessed 25 November 2009]. Cox (ibid.) dates the old church to the early 16th-century re-building of an earlier church. There is a modern font in this cathedral as well, which, like the rest of the church belongs to the late 19th century, most of which is done in an Early English style; the font consists of a circular basin of polished porphyry raised on a central shaft and outer colonnettes, all of which raised on a lower base and plinth; like many Victorian fonts of this type, the outer colonnettes are done in a different colour (black marble?) for contrast.; the wooden cover is tall and profusely carved with tracery, etc. The font, designed by Frank L. Pearson, the architect of the new cathedral, is located in a baptistery the area of which is demarcated by columns that hold up a baldacchino-type of structure. A recent [August 2009] photograph of this modern font can be viewed in FLICKR [http://www.flickr.com/photos/16545729@N03/3936521073/] [accessed 25 November 2009]. The font at the Bournemouth cathedral was designed by Pearson's father, John Loughborough Pearson, is somewhat similar to this modern font.