Gigha Parish Church, Font

This is the font that formerly lay within the ruined church of St. Cathan (RCAHMS 1971, No.276), where it attracted the attention of Martin and of other early visitors to the island (Martin, Western Isles, 263); it was set up in its present position in 1938. The font is an irregular octagonal basin of schist measuring 0.69 m in width and 0.33 m in depth over all (Fig. 195, Pl. 101B). The facets of the octagon are separated by shallow ribs, some of which are vertical and others oblique in form. The bowl, which has evidently been rebated to accommodate a cover, has a diameter of 0.48 m and a depth of 0.20 m; there is central drain-orifice. It is not possible to ascribe this font to a particular date within the medieval period, but it bears some resemblance to the seven-sided font recorded at Killin, Perthshire (PSAS, xxi (1886-7), 385, 387).

RCAHMS 1971, visited June 1966.