In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

John 1:4

From the Cathedral guidebook:

The pilgrim steps, their stone treads worn down by countless pilgrims over the centuries, are now protected by wooden boards. The shrine these pilgrims had come to visit was that of a an called William. Little is know about, him except that he was probably a baker from Perth in Scotland making his own pilgrimage to Canterbury and perhaps on to Rome and the Holy Land. On his way out of Rochester he was murdered. His body was found by a local woman who appeared to by cured of her madness as a result.

Monks gathered up his body and buried it in the cathedral. Further miracles were reported and a shrine developed, with William reputedly canonised as a saint in 1256. Pilgrims gave money as shrine offerings and this contributed to the rebuilding work of the early 1200s. William’s shrine and the shrines of the other saints here were destroyed at the Reformation.

This doorway was originally the night time entrance from the Monk’s dormitory, it currently leads to the chapter library. The Gothic style doorway contrasts Christianity with Judaism. On the left is Ecclesia represents Christianity and on the right Synagoga represents Judaism.

Synagoga is depicted as a blindfolded woman with a broken staff, the Tablets of the Law slipping from her hand, in contrast to Ecclesia who holds a cross and a chalice.

The doorway shows the intolerance to Jews at that time depicting the view that Jews had turned away and were blinded from God’s true path.

This twelfth century doorway gave access to the stairs that led to the monks dormitory. The shafts beside the doorway are of Tournai Marble from Belgium. Above the lintel is a ‘Tympanum’ on which is carved a scene showing Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. The ram in a thicket, caught by its’ horn can just be seen to the right with the hand of God above. *

*Information from a plaque near to the doorway.

Ruins of the monks’ priory buildings surrounding the garden at Rochester Cathedral.