The Sanctuary Knocker or hagoday is an ornamental knocker on the door of a cathedral. 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 on Durham Cathedral, the St. Nicholas church in Gloucester and the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon. By 1623, the laws permitting church sanctuary had been overturned by parliament.
Famous quotes containing the word sanctuary:
“There is immunity in reading, immunity in formal society, in office routine, in the company of old friends and in the giving of officious help to strangers, but there is no sanctuary in one bed from the memory of another. The past with its anguish will break through every defence-line of custom and habit; we must sleep and therefore we must dream.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)