Old Croxdale Chapel

Old Croxdale Chapel is a hidden gem just a few miles south of the city of Durham. It is normally kept securely locked on its plot of private land, only to receive admiring glances from the curious on the public lane. Thankfully, a friend of a relative possessed a key and rights of access, so to the old chapel we repaired.

Although it possesses some rather anachronistic, Victorian pews, and some low, eighteenth-century wooden wainscoting on the walls, much else is medieval. Two ancient fonts straddle the chancel floor (one containing the date 1174 which I did not believe, owing to its use of Arabic, rather than Roman, numerals), as well as boasting a Norman chancel arch and some Early English (1100s) and Decorated (1300s) windows. All in all, a highly satisfying visit to a relatively unmolested medieval chapel. ‘Stepping back in time’ is one of those horrible clichés employed by third-rate copywriters when designing a website for a castle or stately home. At Old Croxdale Chapel, such a phrase may be used with all sincerity.

Its most significant feature, though, is its south doorway. Norman, with its rounded arch and severe masonry, it has above it a tympanum, a carved picture or pattern. Croxdale’s appears to be a tree, which is doubtless a reference to the Tree of Life. We first read of it in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, when its wondrous fruits are given to, and then withheld from, mankind. A final reference appears in Revelation, the Bible’s final book, in which it is miraculously and magnanimously restored to us, never to be lost or removed again. Few Norman churchgoers would have been aware of this, but the carving above their heads would certainly have impressed them.

The second feature is the door itself. It is possible, though it be remarkable, that the wooden door is the original. Of course, it is battered and cracked, but the metal ‘C’ hinges and ironwork appear Norman. Even Historic England, a body known for its caution, concedes the likely age of this door. It is not the oldest door in the country; that honour belongs to a Saxon example dating to 1050 and found at Westminster Abbey; but this one is likely its junior by a century or less. Furthermore, as an external entry point, it has weathered remarkably well against storm and tempest.

The Lord Jesus said “I am the door” (John 10:7,9). He is the entry point to heaven, to God the Father, to eternal life, and to hope itself. If one is to reach again the Tree of Life, it is through Christ one must go in order to find it. Christ is the ancient doorway to God; other doors may exist, and may appear better or sleeker, but it is the oldest Door through which the Tree of Life may be accessed; all others lead nowhere.