It is tempting to think of cathedrals simply as places of worship, but theire civic function was as a place of sanctuary. People who had committed a ‘great offence’, for example killing in self defence or escaping from prison, could clame sanctuary within the cathedral for 37 days. after which they either had to have solved their problems or were given a safe passage out of the country. The state of sanctuary was a bit like ‘refuge’ status today – one lost some of one’s rights as a citizen. Durham’s famous sanctuary knocker was allegedly what those claiming sanctuary had to grasp. The current knocker on the cathedral’s door is a replica; the original is on display inside the cathedral.*

*Durham World Heritage Site, A Guide to the Castle and Cathedral – Published in 2013 by Durham World Heritage Site.