The name of the college is believed to refer to an ornate brass doorknocker in the shape of a nose, that was once on the door of its main hall. The name was in use at least as early as the 1330s. It is believed that the original doorknocker was removed by students in the 14th Century and taken to Stamford in Lincolnshire. In 1890, the college purchased a house in Stamford. The house had been referred to as "Brasenose" since the 17th Century. The house had a 12th-Century doorknocker, believed to be the doorknocker removed from the college. The college had the doorknocker returned to the college, and it now hangs in the college's main hall.