The name "sanctuary knocker" is a modern convention, and the objects were not necessarily used for knocking. Durham Cathedral notes that there is no evidence that a striking plate was ever fitted to its north door, and that anyone attempting to rap the heavy ring against the boards would have injured their hands; the ring functioned instead as something to be grasped and held. Fittings of this type are described in architectural literature as closing rings or door rings, and comparable rings survive on churches with no recorded sanctuary tradition, so the sanctuary function of any individual example is often an attribution rather than a documented use.
Surviving examples
Several of the best-known rings now on church doors are modern copies, the originals having been removed for conservation or lost to theft.
Durham Cathedral. The 12th-century bronze ring was taken from the north door and is displayed in the cathedral museum; the ring now on the door is a replica installed in 1980. A cast taken from the original was also used to supply a replacement ring for Brougham Hall in Cumbria, whose own medieval iron ring was stolen.
St John the Baptist, Adel, Leeds. The bronze ring on the south door, probably made at York around 1200, was stolen in 2002 and has been replaced by a copy.
All Saints', Pavement, York. Carries a closely comparable ring of the same regional workshop tradition.
