Door Latches

A latch is the mechanism that holds a door shut when there is no lock involved. Press the handle, the bolt retracts, the door opens. Most internal doors in a UK home use one.

Choosing one comes down to three things: the style you want on show, the size that fits your door, and whether it needs to lock.

Overview to Door Latches

• A latch holds a door closed. A lock secures it. A privacy latch holds a door shut from the inside without a key.
• Two measurements matter: the backset, from the edge of the door to the centre of the spindle, and the case length, how far the body sits into the door edge.
• Tubular latches fit inside the door edge and are invisible when closed. Rim latches mount on the face of the door and are meant to be seen.
• Suffolk and thumb latches are hand forged, operate with a thumb press rather than a handle, and suit ledged, braced and cottage doors.
• Our hand forged range is made by blacksmiths using traditional English techniques, so no two pieces are the same.
• Every latch on this page is for internal doors.

The types, and which door each suits

Tubular latch

The standard internal door latch. It sits inside a hole bored into the door edge, so nothing shows but the faceplate and the strike. Use it with any handle or knob on a standard panelled or flush door. If you are fitting new internal oak doors throughout the house, this is almost certainly what you need.

Rim latch

Mounted on the face of the door rather than inside it. On an older door it is a deliberate design feature rather than something to hide, and it is often the more authentic fitting. Our Cromwell and Regency rim latches come in aged brass, aged nickel and iron, and the Victorian pattern comes in iron.

Suffolk latch

A hand forged latch operated by pressing a thumb bar. It is the traditional fitting for a ledged and braced door, a cottage door or a barn door, where a modern handle would look wrong. Ours is a complete set, hand forged by blacksmiths and finished with wax rather than powder coating or paint, which is why it does not look like the cheaper mild steel versions.

Thumb latch

The same principle as a Suffolk latch, in a different pattern. The thumb bar and back plate are shaped rather than plain, so it reads as a decorative fitting as much as a working one. Our Gothic thumb latch is handmade and finished in traditional beeswax, which gives it a dark, slightly uneven surface rather than a uniform coating.

Privacy latch

A hand forged swinging latch that holds a door shut from the inside, with no key involved. It comes as a two part set with the fixings, and you decide the height it goes at, so it can sit high enough to stay out of small hands. Good for a bathroom or a bedroom, and for a wardrobe or any door only ever opened from one side.

Cottage latch

A steel cottage latch finished in black beeswax, which is the traditional look on an oak door. It is handed, so check which way your door opens before you order. The latch, the bar and the keeps are all steel, and it comes with the fixings and screws.

Measuring: backset and case length

Getting these two wrong is the most common reason a latch does not fit.

The backset is the distance from the edge of the door to the centre of the spindle hole. It decides how far your handle sits from the door edge. Too short and your knuckles hit the frame, which is why knobs generally need a longer backset than levers.

The case length is how deep the latch body goes into the door edge. It has to be shorter than the thickness of your door stile, or the mortice will break through.

Measure an existing latch before replacing it, and check the latch type, backset, case size and finish against your door and handles before ordering.

Latch or lock?

A latch holds a door closed. If you need it to lock with a key, you want a sashlock or a deadlock instead, and both are in our locks and latches range. For an outside door, the sashlocks, deadlocks and cylinders live in external door hardware alongside the handles that match them.

For internal doors, a latch plus a privacy latch covers almost every situation in a house.

Matching the rest of your ironmongery

A latch is rarely bought on its own. It needs a handle or a knob on the spindle, and hinges to hang the door. Three things to get right:

• The handle or knob. Our door handles and door knobs both take a standard spindle.
• The hinges. See door hinges.
• The finish, which should match across all three.

A hardware value pack covers the latch, handles and hinges for one door in a single matching finish, which is the simplest route if you are doing a whole house.