Nwicker60
05-Jan-12, 22:27
Sherlock Holmes and the strange case of the
Victorian house, Underwood, in Hindhead, Surrey
IT would never have happened in Sherlock Holmes’ day.
Why not? Well, the den where he did much of his deductive thinking – 221B Baker Street - some of it aloud, for the benefit of his faithful sidekick, Dr John Watson, would have been saved by the government of the day, had it come under threat from developers.
Homes had on occasions been called in, via his brother Mycroft on sensitive matters of state, and there is no way any contractor would have been allowed to knock down, gut out or in any way convert the detective’s famous abode.
Not so with Holmes’ creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose mansion, Underwood, in Hindhead, Surrey, is under threat. It is, to parody Sherlock’s assessment of the time it would take him shed some light on one of his many cases, considerably more than a three-pipe problem.
The facts are these. The Surrey local authority have given Virgin Islands-based developers, the go-ahead to to turn Undershaw into an exclusive estate. The impressive Victorian villa was where Edinburgh-born Doyle penned some of his most notable works, including The Hound of the Baskervilles and the all-important Return of Sherlock Holmes, in which the detective made a shock comeback, from what was believed to have been a horrific plunge into the Riechenbach Falls following a cliff-edge tussle-to-the-death, with his malevolent adversary, Professor Moriarty. (Doyle had decided that the popularity of the detective stories had gone too far and promptly killed off Holmes but was forced by public demand to resurrect him).
Waverley Borough Council had carried out urgent repairs to the privately-owned Underwood and issued planning permission on the basis that the structure would be a risk of further deterioration if it remained empty. The decision angered the legions of fans of the private detective, described by his faithful companion, Dr Watson, as a private consulting detective “unique in the annals of crime”.
More important, it raised the hackles of a retired judge, John Gibson, who used his legal expertise to take court action against the move to create eight new houses from Underwood, built by Doyle for his wife Louise and their two children. Gibson has succeeded in securing a judicial review of the local authority’s decision, warning that if the building was transformed into flats, the “very soul of it would be ripped apart.”
Other champions are writer Ian Rankin and comedian Stephen Fry. Local MP Jeremy Hunt was also involved in the fight until he became the Culture Secretary for the coalition government.
The judicial review is due to take place on May 23 in the High Court when, hopefully , the fate of Underwood, Mr Gibson regards as “remarkable” will be favourably decided.
He says: “As a writer, Doyle to me is an absolute giant, a genius and the creator of the most popular character in fiction. For his house to be disintegrated like this, is just appalling.”
I am sure there will be many more supporters of that opinion than opponents. Such a famous building must be preserved for posterity. It could well serve a material tribute to Doyle, perhaps as a museum.
Of course, its current condition brooks the crunch question-“who is going to pay to put the building back in order” in memory of Holmes and creator, Doyle?
Will the measure of their adulation them, be tested by how deep they will be prepared to dip into their pockets to prevent Underwood becoming a ruin?
As the detective was prone to say...I would postulate they will. I, for one, would be happy to contribute and I don’t think I’ll be alone.
Victorian house, Underwood, in Hindhead, Surrey
IT would never have happened in Sherlock Holmes’ day.
Why not? Well, the den where he did much of his deductive thinking – 221B Baker Street - some of it aloud, for the benefit of his faithful sidekick, Dr John Watson, would have been saved by the government of the day, had it come under threat from developers.
Homes had on occasions been called in, via his brother Mycroft on sensitive matters of state, and there is no way any contractor would have been allowed to knock down, gut out or in any way convert the detective’s famous abode.
Not so with Holmes’ creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose mansion, Underwood, in Hindhead, Surrey, is under threat. It is, to parody Sherlock’s assessment of the time it would take him shed some light on one of his many cases, considerably more than a three-pipe problem.
The facts are these. The Surrey local authority have given Virgin Islands-based developers, the go-ahead to to turn Undershaw into an exclusive estate. The impressive Victorian villa was where Edinburgh-born Doyle penned some of his most notable works, including The Hound of the Baskervilles and the all-important Return of Sherlock Holmes, in which the detective made a shock comeback, from what was believed to have been a horrific plunge into the Riechenbach Falls following a cliff-edge tussle-to-the-death, with his malevolent adversary, Professor Moriarty. (Doyle had decided that the popularity of the detective stories had gone too far and promptly killed off Holmes but was forced by public demand to resurrect him).
Waverley Borough Council had carried out urgent repairs to the privately-owned Underwood and issued planning permission on the basis that the structure would be a risk of further deterioration if it remained empty. The decision angered the legions of fans of the private detective, described by his faithful companion, Dr Watson, as a private consulting detective “unique in the annals of crime”.
More important, it raised the hackles of a retired judge, John Gibson, who used his legal expertise to take court action against the move to create eight new houses from Underwood, built by Doyle for his wife Louise and their two children. Gibson has succeeded in securing a judicial review of the local authority’s decision, warning that if the building was transformed into flats, the “very soul of it would be ripped apart.”
Other champions are writer Ian Rankin and comedian Stephen Fry. Local MP Jeremy Hunt was also involved in the fight until he became the Culture Secretary for the coalition government.
The judicial review is due to take place on May 23 in the High Court when, hopefully , the fate of Underwood, Mr Gibson regards as “remarkable” will be favourably decided.
He says: “As a writer, Doyle to me is an absolute giant, a genius and the creator of the most popular character in fiction. For his house to be disintegrated like this, is just appalling.”
I am sure there will be many more supporters of that opinion than opponents. Such a famous building must be preserved for posterity. It could well serve a material tribute to Doyle, perhaps as a museum.
Of course, its current condition brooks the crunch question-“who is going to pay to put the building back in order” in memory of Holmes and creator, Doyle?
Will the measure of their adulation them, be tested by how deep they will be prepared to dip into their pockets to prevent Underwood becoming a ruin?
As the detective was prone to say...I would postulate they will. I, for one, would be happy to contribute and I don’t think I’ll be alone.