St Peter's Font

An outstanding example of a Pagan object transformed for Christian use, in St Peter's Church, Castle Street, Cambridge, is the 11th century font with it's two tailed mermen.
In Pagan times, mermen, like mermaids,were symbols of temptation, and because of their connection with water, evolved in early Christian times as a symbol of Baptism and spiritual regeneration. Some archaeologists believe the font may originally have been a mortar for grinding corn and later adapted for ecclesiastical use. The plaited hair of the mermen forms the rim, on which can be seen the shape of a bolt, suggesting that the bowl had a hinged lid and padlock. I will go back to photograph the delightful little church which still has traces of it's Saxon past.