The Small Doors
Years ago, I was a guest at a friend’s wedding at a nice little church in Halifax, NS. The church building wasn’t exceptionally old. It had been constructed in 1948 and officially opened in 1950 but it did have an old building feel to it. Stone façade. Tall bell tower. Inside was a lot of local hardwood (likely hemlock given the region), tall vaulted ceilings and a choir loft.
As I sat in one of the pews, I did what I always do in old buildings: I start looking for the subtle little details that you don’t see in many modern buildings and in particular, the features that always seem to pose a question. In this particular church it came in the form of a small door high up in the choir loft, at the top of a three-rung ladder. The door itself was only about ¾ the size of a normal door. Was this the way up to the bell tower? What is hidden behind that small door? Of course, I never found out, but I enjoyed imagining.
My hometown of Halifax was founded as a seaport and military colony and there are many of these “small doors” throughout the city. There are even longstanding legends (or myths) of secret underground tunnels that connect the fortress on Citadel Hill to Georges Island in the Harbour. Historians have been looking for years but haven’t found any such tunnels. The rumors persist regardless.
Old cities and old buildings seem to have an implied secrecy to them. Doorways that were walled over years ago. Centuries of upkeep and renovations. Building plans that were lost to history.
Back in 2006 I had the pleasure of fulfilling a lifelong dream and I traveled to Scotland to stay with friends and tour the country. There are some real “old world” places to explore there, and it seemed every one of them had their own version of the small door. Sometimes it was a literal door. Sometimes it was a narrow passageway, or a hidden staircase. One time it was a high-up window in a tower that made me wonder how do you get up there? Another time a friend and I were having lunch in a pub but this pub had obviously been something else in another life. The 14’ ceilings were adorned by ornate crown mouldings and a coffered ceiling. Not the architecture I would normally associate with a pub.
The oldest building in Glasgow is the Glasgow Cathedral which dates back to the year 1197. That’s 295 years before Columbus sailed to the Americas and more than 500 years before Halifax was founded. It seemed every building I was in had a story I wondered about. Needless to say, I had the time of my life and hope to return someday.
I know most people probably walk by these small doors and never give them a second thought. They might appreciate a different characteristic of an old building or maybe not even notice the charm that a building can have. That’s absolutely fine. But for me, every time I see a door that looks out of place or looks like it’s been shut for years, I can’t help but wonder what’s on the other side and where does it lead? Who was the last person to walk through there?
I know I’ll never get the answers, but it’s the questions that are fun.
