Sanctuary knocker

File:The Sanctuary knocker, Durham Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 1759573.jpg

A sanctuary knocker is an ornamental knocker on the door of a cathedral or church. Under medieval English common law, these instruments supposedly afforded the right of asylum to anybody who touched them. Examples of sanctuary knockers can be found in Durham Cathedral, St. Nicholas church in Gloucester and the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon.{{cite journal

| first=Charlotte | last=Mason | title=Sanctuary

| journal=The Windsor Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women

| publisher=Ward, Lock & Co., Limited

| date=December 1904 – May 1905

| volume=21 | pages=127 }} By 1623, the laws permitting church sanctuary had been overturned by parliament.{{cite journal

| last=Cox | first=J. C. | authorlink=John Charles Cox

| title=The Sanctuaries and Sanctuary Seekers of Yorkshire

| journal=The Archaeological Journal

| year=1911 | volume=68 | pages=299 }}