The North Door of St Edward's Church Stow on the Wold is famous. Yet it is just the back door to the church. The north side of the church is the unfashionable part of the churchyard where the paupers were buried. The wealthy of the parish were buried in the church or at the west and south end of the churchyard. St Edward's is different.

The door at the north side of the church is a late addition to the medieval church. After the civil war of the 17th century the church was in a very run down condition. Repairs were undertaken in the late 17th and early 18th century and it is likely that this is when the new north door was built. Around this time the Rector of the parish lived next to the church in the building that is now Stow Lodge Hotel. There is a gate in the wall to allow him to cut through the grounds to the church. Perhaps the north door is so grand because the Rector used it. We don't have the written records but it makes sense that this short cut was made to look impressive for the incumbent who had the living.

The door was just fixture of the church, albeit a very beautiful fixture, until it was suggested that JRR Tolkien may have visited the church and saw the trees growing around and over the door. The story is that this inspired him to imagine the doors of Durin which are the entrance the the dwarf kingdom of Moria in 'The Lord of the Rings.' We don't know if Tolkien did come to Stow but we know he visited Moreton in Marsh. Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic so perhaps he visited Stow to worship at the RC church which is on Back Walls and, after a pie and a pint walked around St Edward's Church and was inspired by the doors. We will never know yet tens of thousands of people visit every year to witness the beauty of the site.