Photo: Exeter Cathedral
A wooden door in an 11th-century English cathedral is thought to feature the world's oldest documented cat flap.
The feline-sized portal was crafted more than 400 years ago so that a resident cat could police rodents, says Exeter Cathedral historian Diane Walker.
The door, which leads to a cavity in a wall, sits below the cathedral's astronomical clock, Walker says.
‘The walls of this tower, where the clock is, are several feet thick and this was built at the beginning of the 12th century.
“Then in 1376, a space was engineered within that thick wall to house the clockwork and to drive an astronomical clock.”
According to church records, the cathedral's resident cat received a salary for controlling rodents, she says.
“They were on the payroll of the cathedral, paid, according to our records, 13 pence a quarter, so a penny a week ... and then there's a period where we have the payments for 26 pence a quarter."
The cat flap-style hole in the door was added in the late 16th century, Wilson says.
“Bishop Cotton arrived in 1598 and he found the cathedral in a pretty poor state and he also found Bishop’s Palace in a poor state. He sued the outgoing bishop for dilapidation because it was so grim.
“Then he we have a record that he paid the carpenters 8 pence to cut a hole in the door in the north transept for his cat to have access to get rid of the vermin that were attracted to the clockwork because that was lubricated with animal fat.”
Exeter Cathedral's car door may not be the earliest one in existence but it's the only one with records attached, she says.
“We can't be sure it's the oldest because there are bound to be other doors with holes in them that have probably been cut for cats. It's just that we actually have a date for ours so we know when the hole was cut.
"The chances of having a record of when a hole is cut in the door for cats to get in to chase rats and mice is probably pretty minimal and we're fortunate in having a record.”
Exeter Cathedral, which is still active, was constructed in the 11th century and reflects a mixture of Norman and Gothic architecture.
Exeter Cathedral Photo: Antony Wyrdight-McCallum/CC3.0
