“Which is it today? Morphine or cocaine?”
“It is cocaine. A seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try it?”

– Dr. Watson speaking to Sherlock Holmes, ‘The Sign of Four’

Sherlock Holmes is famous for a lot of things. His deerstalker cap, his pipe, his address (“Two-twenty-one B…Baker Street”), his phenomenal deductive powers and of course…his drug-use. That’s what this posting is about.

The Holmesian Canon (the collection of short stories and the novels), was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was knighted in 1902 for services rendered during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). But before the Boer War, Doyle enjoyed the use of another title.

Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle.

That’s right. He was a physician.

He wrote the Holmes stories in the considerable amounts of spare time that he had between appointments and consultations, to make the extra money that his medical practice failed to provide.

It’s probably not surprising then, that medicine and drugs play a big role in the Canon, since after all, the stories were written by a doctor.

Sherlock Holmes and Drugs

The Holmesian canon gives us a window into the world of Victorian England, at the end of the 19th century. We see clothing, transport, social attitudes, science and technology. And we also get a glimpse into Victorian medicine. How many of the characters are doctors or surgeons? Dr. Mortimer, Dr. Watson, Dr. Trevelyan, Dr. Carthew…the list goes on.

But Holmes’s closest association with medicine (apart from Dr. Watson), is his use of drugs.

I will say this once. So pay close attention.

Sherlock Holmes was not a drug-addict.

He says so himself. Holmes’s brain is overactive. It is constantly whirring around looking for things to occupy itself with. When he’s working on a case, his brain is occupied with problems, facts, deductions, inferences and pieces of evidence.

When Holmes doesn’t have a case, his brain has nothing to work on. Nothing to stimulate it. He gets bored and cranky. Hence the drugs. They serve to keep his brain occupied and stimulated when he doesn’t have a case. He hops off them the moment that he does have one. At best, you might say that Holmes was a recreational drug-user. But certainly not an addict. If he was, he’d be huffing on opium and shooting up heroin all day long, even if he was on a case…which he has never done.

“…My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation…”

– Sherlock Holmes, ‘The Sign of Four’

Now, I will sit back while I’m broadsided by a group of angry people screaming at their computer-screens, saying how Holmes is a drug addict because he shot himself up with cocaine and morphine, how he did tobacco, how he huffed opium and did heroin and every other kind of illicit drug imaginable. Of course he was a druggie. Those are all illegal drugs!

…No they’re not.

Drugs in Victorian England

You have to understand that we read the Holmesian stories through modern eyes. Through the eyes of people living in the 21st Century. When these stories were written, some well over a hundred years ago, things were very different.

The most important difference, for the purposes of this posting, is that in Victorian times, opium, morphine, cocaine, laudanum and heroin were all completely legal.

Yes they were. Believe it, or not.

You could go into your Boots chemist in London on Fleet Street and buy a bottle of opium or morphine just as easily in 1885, as buying a bottle of aspirin pills is today. Nothing was thought of it and nothing was said. It was as easy as that. And 100% legal. Owning, using, purchasing and selling these drugs was as common as cough-drops. There was almost no regulation or laws surrounding these substances…mostly because at the time, their side-effects were less well-understood than they are today.

Opiates, especially (opiates are the drugs derived from the opium poppy), were used extensively in Victorian times, either as sedatives, sleeping drafts or painkillers. Sleeping-tablets contained opium or morphine. Sedatives (drugs to help you relax) most likely also contained opium or one of its related drugs.

The most common painkiller of the time was a powerful drug sold in bottles and which was used to treat everything from toothaches, headaches, joint-pains and back-ache. Called ‘Tincture of Laudanum’, this highly potent cocktail of alcohol and opium was powerful and effective…but also extremely addictive. And it was sold as freely in Victorian times as any other non-prescription pain-relief medication is sold today.

The Status of Drugs

In Victorian times, when the Holmesian canon was written, there was almost no regulation about drugs and poisons. The closest thing you had was the pharmacist’s ‘Poison Book’.

By law, pharmacists had to keep a record-book of poisons. Anyone wanting to purchase poison would have to fill out a line in the book. Their name, address, reason for purchasing poison and so-on…and sign their entry in the book. That was pretty much it.

But the drugs which, in the 21st century are illegal, had no regulation in Victorian times. Their side-effects were not understood and they were so widely used by everyone from doctors and surgeons to parents treating their sick children, that nobody thought anything of it.

It would not be until 1920, with the passing of the Dangerous Drugs Act, that drugs like cocaine and heroin would finally be outlawed in England.

Holmes’s Use of Drugs

At best, Holmes was a recreational drug-user. He shot himself up with morphine and cocaine to alleviate the agonising spells of boredom he had between the cases which were his real addiction. Opium is occasionally mentioned in the canon (most notably in ‘The Man with the Twisted Lip‘), and its famous side-effect of drowsiness (which is what made it so popular as a painkiller and sleeping-agent) was recorded therein, but no mention is made of Holmes ever actually taking the drug.

Whatever you might think of Holmes and the use of the drugs mentioned in the canon, you need to understand the historical context of the stories and the manner in which drugs were viewed at the time, and how they were used by Holmes, both very different from how they’re handled and used today.

“Which is it today? Morphine or cocaine?”
“It is cocaine. A seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try it?”

– Dr. Watson speaking to Sherlock Holmes, ‘The Sign of Four’

Sherlock Holmes is famous for a lot of things. His deerstalker cap, his pipe, his address (“Two-twenty-one B…Baker Street”), his phenomenal deductive powers and of course…his drug-use. That’s what this posting is about.

The Holmesian Canon (the collection of short stories and the novels), was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was knighted in 1902 for services rendered during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). But before the Boer War, Doyle enjoyed the use of another title.

Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle.

That’s right. He was a physician.

He wrote the Holmes stories in the considerable amounts of spare time that he had between appointments and consultations, to make the extra money that his medical practice failed to provide.

It’s probably not surprising then, that medicine and drugs play a big role in the Canon, since after all, the stories were written by a doctor.

Sherlock Holmes and Drugs

The Holmesian canon gives us a window into the world of Victorian England, at the end of the 19th century. We see clothing, transport, social attitudes, science and technology. And we also get a glimpse into Victorian medicine. How many of the characters are doctors or surgeons? Dr. Mortimer, Dr. Watson, Dr. Trevelyan, Dr. Carthew…the list goes on.

But Holmes’s closest association with medicine (apart from Dr. Watson), is his use of drugs.

I will say this once. So pay close attention.

Sherlock Holmes was not a drug-addict.

He says so himself. Holmes’s brain is overactive. It is constantly whirring around looking for things to occupy itself with. When he’s working on a case, his brain is occupied with problems, facts, deductions, inferences and pieces of evidence.

When Holmes doesn’t have a case, his brain has nothing to work on. Nothing to stimulate it. He gets bored and cranky. Hence the drugs. They serve to keep his brain occupied and stimulated when he doesn’t have a case. He hops off them the moment that he does have one. At best, you might say that Holmes was a recreational drug-user. But certainly not an addict. If he was, he’d be huffing on opium and shooting up heroin all day long, even if he was on a case…which he has never done.

“…My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation…”

– Sherlock Holmes, ‘The Sign of Four’

Now, I will sit back while I’m broadsided by a group of angry people screaming at their computer-screens, saying how Holmes is a drug addict because he shot himself up with cocaine and morphine, how he did tobacco, how he huffed opium and did heroin and every other kind of illicit drug imaginable. Of course he was a druggie. Those are all illegal drugs!

…No they’re not.

Drugs in Victorian England

You have to understand that we read the Holmesian stories through modern eyes. Through the eyes of people living in the 21st Century. When these stories were written, some well over a hundred years ago, things were very different.

The most important difference, for the purposes of this posting, is that in Victorian times, opium, morphine, cocaine, laudanum and heroin were all completely legal.

Yes they were. Believe it, or not.

You could go into your Boots chemist in London on Fleet Street and buy a bottle of opium or morphine just as easily in 1885, as buying a bottle of aspirin pills is today. Nothing was thought of it and nothing was said. It was as easy as that. And 100% legal. Owning, using, purchasing and selling these drugs was as common as cough-drops. There was almost no regulation or laws surrounding these substances…mostly because at the time, their side-effects were less well-understood than they are today.

Opiates, especially (opiates are the drugs derived from the opium poppy), were used extensively in Victorian times, either as sedatives, sleeping drafts or painkillers. Sleeping-tablets contained opium or morphine. Sedatives (drugs to help you relax) most likely also contained opium or one of its related drugs.

The most common painkiller of the time was a powerful drug sold in bottles and which was used to treat everything from toothaches, headaches, joint-pains and back-ache. Called ‘Tincture of Laudanum’, this highly potent cocktail of alcohol and opium was powerful and effective…but also extremely addictive. And it was sold as freely in Victorian times as any other non-prescription pain-relief medication is sold today.

The Status of Drugs

In Victorian times, when the Holmesian canon was written, there was almost no regulation about drugs and poisons. The closest thing you had was the pharmacist’s ‘Poison Book’.

By law, pharmacists had to keep a record-book of poisons. Anyone wanting to purchase poison would have to fill out a line in the book. Their name, address, reason for purchasing poison and so-on…and sign their entry in the book. That was pretty much it.

But the drugs which, in the 21st century are illegal, had no regulation in Victorian times. Their side-effects were not understood and they were so widely used by everyone from doctors and surgeons to parents treating their sick children, that nobody thought anything of it.

It would not be until 1920, with the passing of the Dangerous Drugs Act, that drugs like cocaine and heroin would finally be outlawed in England.

Holmes’s Use of Drugs

At best, Holmes was a recreational drug-user. He shot himself up with morphine and cocaine to alleviate the agonising spells of boredom he had between the cases which were his real addiction. Opium is occasionally mentioned in the canon (most notably in ‘The Man with the Twisted Lip‘), and its famous side-effect of drowsiness (which is what made it so popular as a painkiller and sleeping-agent) was recorded therein, but no mention is made of Holmes ever actually taking the drug.

Whatever you might think of Holmes and the use of the drugs mentioned in the canon, you need to understand the historical context of the stories and the manner in which drugs were viewed at the time, and how they were used by Holmes, both very different from how they’re handled and used today.

Sherlock Holmes is famous the world-over. From Melbourne to Maine, from Singapore to Shanghai, New York to New Orleans, Paris to St. Petersburg. Everyone knows who he is and what he does, what he looks like and where he lives. Billions of people have read his exploits and wondered and mused about the places that he’s been to and to which they themselves might never go. Many famous London landmarks are mentioned in the hefty Holmesian canon (hefty? 1,408 pages in the ‘Complete Sherlock Holmes‘ published by Wordsworth), but rarely are illustrations of these great institutions ever included in any print-run of any combination of the stories contained within the Canon. So where are these places, what are they and what do they look like?

London According to Holmes…

“You know that I cannot possibly leave London!…Scotland Yard feels lonely without me, and it causes an unhealthy excitement among the criminal classes”
– Sherlock Holmes; ‘The Adventure of Lady Frances Carfax’

Holmes was addicted to London. And at any rate, as he so wisely said, it would be unwise for him to leave the metropolis for any extended period of time, and certainly never to leave the confines of the British Isles. His world was the West End of the capital of the glorious British Empire. And there he remained until he retired and became a bee-keeper. So what are these famous locations which are peppered throughout the books? Where are they and what are they all about? A great number of fictional locations and addresses such as 221B Baker Street and the Diogenes Club, of which Sherlock’s older brother Mycroft is a member, are included in the Holmesian Canon, but there is also an equally large number of actual London landmarks buildings mentioned in the five dozen stories that make up the complete Holmesian collection. This article will introduce you to as many factual London locations as are mentioned in the canon as it is possible to do. We shall start with where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself started…

A Note on Addresses

Where possible, the addresses of the buildings mentioned in this article have been supplied, together with their postcodes. London postcodes are determined by compass-direction. ‘N’ is North, ‘S’ is South, ‘E’ and ‘W’ are obviously ‘East’ and ‘West’ respectively. There are also postcodes starting with ‘C’ which stands for ‘Central’. So ‘EC’ stands for “East Central’, and so on. Additional letters and numbers indicate further subdivisions of postal districts within the main district.

The Criterion Restaurant

“…I was standing at the Criterion Bar when someone tapped me on the shoulder…”
– Dr. J.H. Watson; ‘A Study in Scarlet’

Entrance to the Criterion Restaurant

Address: 224, Piccadilly, Piccadilly W1J 9HS

The Criterion is one of the most famous restaurants in London. Founded in 1874, it has been one of the city’s greatest dining hotspots for over 130 years. Famous people such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, science-fiction writer H.G. Wells and politician Sir Winston Churchill have all dined here. The restaurant is vast, grand and luxurious and the perfect place for a down-on-his-luck army surgeon such as Dr. Watson to bump into his old friend, Stamford, who would take him to meet the legendary Mr. Sherlock Holmes. The restaurant even commemorates this groundshaking and historical meeting…

The Long Bar at the Criterion Restaurant

The Long Bar of the Criterion Restaurant as it appeared in Holmes’s day

The ‘Alpha Inn’ (the Museum Tavern)

“There are a few of us who frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum…”
– Mr. Henry Baker; ‘The Blue Carbuncle’

Address: 49 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury WC1B 3BA

There is no ‘Alpha Inn’ contained within the confines of London (at least, not in Holmes’s day), however, following the directions in ‘The Red Headed League’, we do arrive at the Museum Tavern, a popular restaurant and drinking establishment across the road from the British Museum, from which the building derives its name. The Museum Tavern was one of Doyle’s favourite drinking-spots and he most likely used it as the model for the Alpha in his stories. Directly across Great Russell Street is…

The British Museum

“…we are to be found in the Museum itself during the day…”
– Mr. Henry Baker; ‘The Red-Headed League’

Address: Great Russell Street, WC1

Established in 1753, the British Museum is one of the largest museums of history and culture in the world, with over seven million display-pieces. The Museum also used to house the British Library, until 1997 when that institution moved to its own premises. The British Museum underwent many changes over the centuries and has been expanded several times. At one point due to expansion projects, the land around the Museum was the largest construction-site in Europe.

The Admiralty

“…As to the Admiralty, it is buzzing like an overturned beehive…”
– Mycroft Holmes; ‘The Bruce-Partington Plans’

Address: 26 Whitehall, London

The Old Admiralty Building (and the nearby Admiralty Arch) were the office-buildings that up until the 1960s, housed the Admiralty, the government department that oversaw the running and management of the British Royal Navy. The Admiralty was replaced in 1964 by a new body, the Admiralty Board, which still uses the assembled Admiralty buildings today.

The Admiralty Arch

The Anerley Arms Hotel

“…I spent the night at the Anerley Arms…”
– Mr. John Hector McFarlane; ‘The Norwood Builder’

Address: 2, Ridsdale Road, Anerley, SE20 8AG

A hotel and public house in Anerley, London. This is where John Hector McFarlane stayed after his long night working with Mr. Jonas Oldacre, who tried to frame him for murder.

St. Bartholomew’s Hospital

“…I recognised young Stamford, who had been a dresser under me at Barts…”
– Dr. J.H. Watson; ‘A Study in Scarlet’

St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. Main Entrance

Address: West Smithfield, EC1A, 7BE

Known simply as ‘Barts’ to most Londoners, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital is one of the oldest medical institutions in London. It is the oldest hospital still in operation in London and the buildings that make up the wings of the hospital were built in the mid-18th century, even though the hospital’s existence on its current site goes back to 1123 AD. The medical college at Barts was founded in 1843 and would’ve been familiar institution to a physician such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Carlton Club

“…The Carlton Club will find me…”
– Sir James Damery; ‘The Illustrious Client’

Address: 69, St. James’s Street

The Carlton Club is a prominent London gentleman’s club for members of the British conservative political party. The club was founded in 1832 and has moved premises three times since its creation. The first clubhouse was too small and the members moved to another clubhouse in 1835, next door to another famous London club, the Reform Club. Here the club remained (although the clubhouse building itself was rebuilt and redesigned several times) until 1940. The Carlton Club suffered a direct hit during an air-raid of the Blitz on London during the Second World War. So complete was the destruction that the members did not bother trying to rebuild, but instead moved to their third and current location at 69 St. James’s, the building pictured above.

Charing Cross Hospital

“I would suggest, for example, that a presentation to a doctor is more likely to come from a hospital than from a hunt. When the initials C.C. are placed before that hospital, the words ‘Charing Cross’ very naturally suggest themselves”
– Sherlock Holmes; ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’

Charing Cross Hospital, London; 1939

Address: Fulham Palace Road W6 8RF

Charing Cross Hospital was founded in 1823 to serve the medical needs of the West End of London. Originally called the West London Infirmary, it received its current name in 1827. It moved from its original location near Charing Cross in London, in 1834 and moved again in the years following World War Two. The current hospital structure is built on the site of the old Fullham Hospital on Fullham Palace Road. Despite the change in location, the hospital has retained its ‘Charing Cross’ name.

Charing Cross Station

“…My collection of ‘M’s is a fine one…and here is…Matthews, who knocked out my left canine in the waiting room at Charing Cross”
– Sherlock Holmes; ‘The Empty House’

Address: Charing Cross Station, the Strand WC2N 5HS

Opened in 1864, Charing Cross Station is one of the main railway stations that service the city of London. In operation for over a hundred and forty years, Charing Cross has undergone numerous renovations and restorations in its long history, from general maintenance-work to full restorations, such as the one carried out on the station between November 2009 and August of 2010.

Claridges Hotel

“You can report to me tomorrow in London, Martha, at Claridges Hotel”
– Sherlock Holmes; ‘His Last Bow’

Address: Cnr. Brook Street and Davies Street, Mayfair, W1K 4HR

Claridges is one of the most famous grand hotels in London. Opened in 1812, it received the name Claridges in 1854. The original Claridges Hotel was deemed too small and was demolished in 1894. A more modern hotel with elevators, running water and private en-suite bathrooms for every room, was opened in 1898. Claridges has had a long association with British royalty and aristoracy starting in the Victorian era, but increasing markedly after World War One. The hotel was expanded in the 1920s and enjoys patronage in more recent times, by a different kind of royalty…the kind that hails from Hollywood. Big names such as Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, Brad Pitt and Audrey Hepburn have all stayed at Claridges over the years.

The Imperial Theatre

“My Father is dead, Mr Holmes. He was James Smith, who conducted the orchestra at the old Imperial Theatre.”
– Violet Smith; ‘The Solitary Cyclist’

Address: Westminster, SW1H 9NH

The Imperial Theatre (previously called the Aquarium Theatre) was opened in April of 1876. It had a seating capacity of 1,300 people. It was demolished in 1907.

St. James’s Hall

“When I saw him that afternoon, so enwrapped in the music at St. James’s Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set himself to hunt down”
– Dr. J.H. Watson; ‘The Red-Headed League’

Address: Regent Street

St. James’s Hall was a prominent concert hall in London during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It was opened on the 25th of March, 1858 and could hold over 2,000 concert-goers for each performance. For the next forty-seven years, St. James’s was one of the most popular musical performance venues in London. Even Charles Dickens went there to give public readings of his famous novels. The hall was closed in the 1900s and was eventually pulled down in 1905. The photo above is of the interior of St. James’s as it appeared during its last concert in its closing year.

King’s College Hospital

“After I graduated, I continued to devote myself to research, occupying a minor position in King’s College Hospital…’
– Dr. Percy Trevelyan; ‘The Resident Patient’

Address: Denmark Hill, SE5 9RS

The King’s College Hospital was opened in 1840 as a small teaching hospital for medical students studying at the King’s College, London, operating out of the St. Clements Dane workhouse on Portugal Street. The hospital was overcrowded and constantly busy. Joseph Lister, the pioneer of modern safe surgery through the introduction of sterilisation, performed some of his first successful operations at the King’s College Hospital in the 1870s. Due to changing circumstances, the hospital moved to new, purpose-built facilities in 1909, with innovations such as electrical power for telephones and electrical lighting. The hospital treated several civilian injuries sustained by bombing during the Blitz of 1940-1941.

The Langham Hotel

“He telegraphed to me from London…and directed me to come down at once, giving the Langham Hotel as his address”
– Mary Morstan; ‘A Sign of Four’

“You will find me at the Langham under the name of the Count Von Kramm”
– The King of Bohemia; ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’

Address: 1C Portland Place, Regent Street, W1B

The Langham Hotel is one of the grandest and oldest hotels in London. And for its time, it was also one of the most modern. Opened in 1865, it featured innovations that wouldn’t be seen in other hotels for decades to come, things like private bathrooms, elevators and even electrical lighting, commencing in the 1870s. The hotel has proved incredibly popular throughout the decades and celebrity guests included the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, cricketer Don Bradman, Diana, Princess of Wales, Winston Churchill, French president Charles de Gaulle and actor Charlie Sheen (not even the best five-star hotel in the world is perfect). Due to its high-class customers, the Langham very nearly went bust during the Great Depression, but survived to become one of London’s most famous hotels.

Lowther Arcade

“…Drive to the Strand end of the Lowther Arcade…”
– Sherlock Holmes; ‘The Final Problem’

Address: 437 Strand, London

The Lowther Arcade was a popular shopping-arcade in London during the Victorian era (comparable with the famous Burlington Arcade), and was full of all kinds of speciality shops, from jewellery, musical instruments and children’s toys.

The Lyceum Theatre

“Be at the third pillar from the left outside the Lyceum Theatre tonight at seven o’clock…”
– Thaddeus Sholto; ‘The Sign of Four’

Address: Wellingon St, WC2E, 7RQ

The Lyceum is one of London’s most famous West End theatres. A playhouse called the Lyceum has existed on Wellington St. since 1772. At first, the theatre struggled and only by constantly changing could it hope to ever make a success of itself. Its first stroke of luck came in the year 1809. The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, caught fire and the theatre’s company moved to the Lyceum while their own theatre was being rebuilt. It was at this time that the Lord Chamberlain (the man in charge of theatres) granted the Lyceum official status as a performing theatre.

In 1830, the Lyceum burnt down and was rebuilt and reopened in 1834. Now, the theatre’s fortunes began to change. Big names started working at the Lyceum, such as W.S. Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan fame and most famously of all, the actor and eventual manager of the Lyceum, Sir Henry Irving, one of the greatest stage actors of the late Victorian period.

Fire ripped through the Lyceum once again at the turn of the century and it was decided that the building could not be saved. It was pulled down and gradually rebuilt, starting in 1904 and reopening in 1907. The Victorian-era facade remains, but the theatre’s interior had been completely redesigned. The Lyceum was almost demolished outright in 1939 due to plans to widen Wellington Street, but these plans fell through and the theatre survives to this day.

Northumberland Hotel (‘Sherlock Holmes’ public house)

“…The address: ‘Sir Henry Baskerville, Northumberland Hotel’, was printed in rough characters…”
– Dr. J.H. Watson; ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’

Address: 10-11, Northumberland Street, Westminster, WC2N 5DB

The Northumberland Hotel as an establishment no longer exists. The building it occupied still stands, however, and it has been transformed into the Sherlock Holmes public house, dedicated to all things Holmesian. It even has a recreation of Holmes and Watson’s sitting-room in it and a menu comprised entirely of Holmesian-style dishes and dish-names! How about trying the Thor Bridge angus burger with tomatoes, gherkins and chips for ten pounds, twenty-five pence?

Paddington Station

“I happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington”
– Dr. J.H. Watson; ‘The Engineer’s Thumb’

Paddington Station in Holmes’s day

Address: Paddington Station, W2 1RH

Paddington Station is one of the most famous buildings in London. A station has existed on the site since 1838, but a permanent railway station called Paddington didn’t finally materialise until 1854. In popular culture, Paddington is closely tied to the children’s character ‘Paddington Bear’ and to the book ‘4:50 from Paddington’ by Agatha Christie.

Scotland Yard (Old Scotland Yard)

“We’re not jealous of you at Scotland Yard”
– Inspector Lestrade; ‘The Six Napoleons’

Address: 4, Whitehall Place.

Scotland Yard is the name of the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police Service (which was established in 1829). The Metropolitan Police have moved their headquarters since Holmes’s day, but in Victorian times, they were located at a suite of buildings on Whitehall Place and were located there between 1887 until 1967, when they moved to their new (and current) headquarters, which had more space for the growing police-force.

Simpsons in the Strand

“When we have finished at the police station I think that something nutritious at Simpson’s would not be out of place.”
– Sherlock Holmes; ‘The Dying Detective’

“I met him by appointment that evening at Simpson’s”
– Dr. J.H. Watson; ‘The Illustrious Client’

Address: 100 Strand, WC2R 0EW

Simpsons in the Strand is probably the most famous restaurant in London. Simpsons opened in 1828 and was originally a chess-club and coffeehouse, but it quickly grew into a London dining institution, at which only the best and most notable people of their day ever sat down to have dinner. Men like George Bernard Shaw, prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone, Charles Dickens, artist Vincent Van Gough and of course, famous pair of fictional sleuths, messers Sherlock Holmes and his best friend, John Hamish Watson, M.D.

The main dining-room, Simpsons in the Strand, London

The restaurant gets its name from the forward-thinking caterer, Mr. John Simpson, who had grand visions for this place and who wanted to make it more than just a simple coffeehouse. Simpsons in the Strand can give thanks to chef Thomas Davey, who insisted that only the best British food should ever be served there, although knowing the international stereotype of British food, one has to wonder what kind of ‘best’ that is. But regardless, Simpsons’ reputation has endured for nearly two hundred years. So insistent was Davey on the ‘Britishness’ of Simpsons that he refuesd even to allow the cards on the dining-tables to be called ‘menus’. Instead, they were to be known, and only known, as ‘Bills of Fare’.

10 Downing Street

“We were fortunate in finding that Lord Holdhurst was still in his chambers at Downing Street”
– Dr. J.H. Watson; ‘The Naval Treaty’

Address: Downing Street, London.

Number 10, Downing Street, has been the official Lonon residence to the British Prime Minister (who also holds the office of First Lord of the Treasury) since the mid 1700s. It has been restored and rebuilt several times over the last two-hundred odd years due to neglect, age and at least two instances of bomb-attacks. One attack during the Blitz saw the kitchen of Downing Street destroyed by a direct hit from a German bomb. Only quick thinking on the part of Winston Churchill, who had ordered all staff out of the kitchen minutes before, prevented a potentially devastating loss of life.

One of the more curious offices held at 10 Downing Street is that of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. That’s right…A cat! Almost continuously since 1924, a cat has been ’employed’ at 10 Downing Street, holding the office of Chief Mouser, whose job it is to keep mice away from the Prime Minister’s residence. The current chief mouser is Larry, pictured below:

Waterloo Station

“[Advise] me as to what I should do with Sir Henry Baskerville, who arrives at Waterloo Station” – Dr. Mortimer looked at his watch – “in exactly one hour and a quarter”
– Mr. James Mortimer, M.R.C.S; ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’

Address: Waterloo Station, City of London SE1 8SW

Waterloo Station was opened in London in 1848, originally called Waterloo Bridge Station. It was renamed to its current title in 1886. The main reason for naming the station ‘Waterloo Bridge’ was because there were already a number of other stations nearby also called ‘Waterloo’, which created untold and immeasurable confusion for travellers in the earlier years of the station’s operation. The station was hit heavily by bombs during the Second World War, but the limited amount of damage meant that the station was restored to its original condition with relative ease in postwar years.

Woolwich Arsenal (Royal Arsenal, Woolwich)

“The man’s name was Arthur Cadogan West, twenty-seven years of age, unmarried and a clerk at Woolwich Arsenal”
– Dr. J.H. Watson; ‘The Bruce-Partington Plans’

Address: Woolwich SE18 6SP

The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich (pronounced ‘Woolich’)  has existed since Stuart times in the 1670s. It wasn’t until 1805, however, that it was named the Royal Arsenal. The Arsenal played important roles during the Crimean, First and Second World Wars. Parts of the arsenal were shut down over the years after the Second World War and the site ceased to have an active military role in 1994, after which the Arsenal was turned into a military museum.

Acknowledgements

I’d like to extend my personal thanks to my fellow members of the Holmesian.net Sherlock Holmes fan-forum who provided me with the suggestions and information which aided in the completion of this posting.

Holmesian Myths.

“…Any truth is better than indefinite doubt…”

– The Yellow Face.

As with any great person, there have been all kinds of myths and legends and suppositions about Holmes. How many of them are actually true? Here are some of the more common ones:

1. Holmes took drugs.

Yes he did. Holmes did occasionally take morphine and cocaine. Don’t forget, when Doyle was writing these stories in the 1880s and the 1890s, cocaine was legal. You could buy it over the counter at a chemist’s shop just as easily as Panadol today.

2. Holmes was a drug-addict.

No. Holmes was never a drug-addict, per-se. At least, not in the sense that most people would understand the term. Holmes shot himself up with cocaine because he required an artificial stimulus when he had not his natural one (which was of course, a case, to keep his mind occupied).

3. Holmes wore a deerstalker hat.

No. No stories mention Holmes ever wearing such a hat. The hat was the invention of Sidney Paget, the illustrator that The Strand Magazine commissioned, to illustrate the Holmes stories. In one publication, he read of a hat, to which Doyle had given no specific name, and imagined it to be a deerstalker.

4. Holmes smoked a calabash pipe.

No. Holmes never smoked such a pipe in his life. He smoked cigars, cigarettes, clay pipes, briar pipes…but not calabash. This was an invention of Hollywood.

5. 221b Baker Street really exists!

Yes and no. Certainly, it never existed in Doyle’s time. Doyle deliberately exaggerated or falsified addresses in his stories, because they were set in (then) contemporary London, and he couldn’t risk having people knocking on actual doors, looking for his detective. He originally had Holmes living at 21 Baker Street, but when he realised that that particular address was occupied, he changed it to ‘221b’, an address which, in his lifetime, did not exist. Later, when Baker Street was lengthened and the houses were all renumbered, there did come into existence, a ‘221 Baker Street’, which still exists today.

6. Holmes & Watson were gay lovers.

You’d be surprised how often this one pops up. They were flatmates, colleagues, friends, partners…but not lovers. Holmes was so detatched and at times, inhuman, it’s nearly impossible to think of him loving anyone at all. In Watson’s case, he was constantly jumping from one wife to another, ending up, as some believe, with the grand total of six wives, throughout the run of the canon.

7. Holmes once said: “Elementary, my dear Watson!”.

No. Never once in all of the sixty original publications that he appears in, did Holmes ever say that line. While he certainly said “my dear Watson!” dozens, if not hundreds of times, and “Elementary” just as frequently, the phrase never appears in its entirety throughout the entire Sherlock Holmes canon. It did appear at the end of a 1929 film called “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”.

8. Holmes owns a Stradivarius violin.

Yes. Holmes does own, and play, a violin, and he mentions it as being a Stradivarius worth at least “five hundred guineas”, and which he bought from “a Jew broker in Tottenham Court Road for fifty-five shillings” (The Cardboard Box).

“Come Watson, come! The game is afoot! Not a word! Into your clothes and come!”

And so begins one of Holmes and Watson’s most famous and interesting adventures, ‘The Abbey Grange’.

For over 120 years, men, women and children have been fascinated and enchanted, amazed and delighted, by the adventures of Mr. Sherlock Holmes and his friend and colleague, Dr. John H. Watson. But nearly all their stories were written over 100 years ago, the last ones were not completed until 1927, and even those are over 80 years old by now. All their exploits happened well over a century ago in a completely different world to our own. That being the case, why, after all these years, are the immortal duo, Holmes and Watson, still alive and well in literary circles? Why is it that there’s a movie on Holmes and Watson coming out this Christmas, in just a few weeks’ time? What is it about Holmes and Watson that keeps them forever coming back for people to read and wonder about?

Undying Popularity.

The Guiness Book of World Records states that:

“…the most frequently portrayed character on the silver screen is Sherlock Holmes…The Baker Street sleuth has been portrayed by around 75 actors in over 211 films since 1900…”

– Guiness World Records (2003).

There has to be SOMETHING about Mr. Holmes which makes us all love him. What is it? Or indeed, is it possible at all, to nail it down to that ONE some…THING? Or are there, in fact, dozens, or hundreds of reasons why Holmes and Watson have enjoyed undying popularity for the past 100+ years? The very name ‘Sherlock Holmes’ is synonymous with crime, detection, good against evil and…the um…calabash pipe and deerstalker hat. Why has Holmes remained so famous when other fictional detectives disappeared into the mists of time and history? He’s up there with Miss Jane Marple or Monseiur Hercule Poirot…but what is it about him that means he deserves to be placed up on a pedestal like this?

It was not just the man himself, it was the world in which he lived in. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the British doctor who started writing about Holmes in his spare time while waiting for patients to show up at his surgery for their appointments, captured a world which is, in the 21st century, an intricate and detailed and minute portrait of late Victorian London, as complete as any encyclopedia. The stories contained all these fascinating little details which bring Holmes to life. The infamous London fog, the gaslight, the clattering horses hooves, the hansom cabs, the beggars, the filthy docks, the disreputable East End. Posh, West End gentlemen’s clubs, horse-racing and scandals. All these features transport us back to a time where we can lose ourselves in the smoke and chill of Holmesian London and to follow the great detective as he charges off into the mist, in search of another killer, thief or desperado. London was the perfect setting for crime and for the criminal agents who brought them to justice.

“The Only One in the World”.

“…I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”
“The only unofficial detective?” I said, raising my eyebrows.
“The only unofficial consulting detective,” he answered. “I am the last and highest court of appeal in detection…”

– The Sign of Four.

One of the chief reasons why Holmes has remained popular for so long, is because the man who created him, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, did something to detective fiction which had been almost unknown at the time of his writing, in the late 1880s. That something was to have a detective who actually solved his cases and who explained every single step along the way. Until Doyle came along, no other writer had managed to do this. In his own words, Doyle said (in the one and only filmed, audio-recorded interview that he ever gave, literally months before he died):

“…it always annoyed me, how, in the old-fashioned detective story, the detective always seemed to get at his result, either by some sort of lucky chance or fluke, or else, it was quite unexplained how he got there! He got there, but he never gave an explanation how! Well that didn’t seem to me, to be quite ‘playing the game’. It seemed to me that he’s bound to give his reasons!…”

Before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle came along, detective fiction was weak, boring, uninteresting and generally poorly written, with writers having no idea how to successfully get their detectives to solve a crime convincingly. What Doyle did was to create a detective who not only solved his crimes, but could show every single step he took, in order to solve it, through the ‘science of deduction’ and the ‘art of observation’, as they were called in the Holmesian canon. For the first time ever, readers could read a detective story and they could follow this detective through his entire case and learn how he solved his crimes. Such a thing had never been seen before; it was a revolution! This, in a nutshell, was what made Holmes so immensely popular to begin with.

The Man Behind the Man.

But who was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?

Doyle was a Scotsman born in 1859. He studied medicine at the University of Edinbrugh and spent his younger years as a ship’s surgeon, sailing around the world. When he was a bit older, he turned his medical skills to becoming a civilian doctor and set himself up in practice in Southsea, England, near the town of Portsmouth. While Doyle was a skilled physician (for the day), he had constant financial struggles. In fact at one point, he was so poor, he had only just enough money to furnish the rooms in his house that his patients would see! In his spare time between patients, Doyle wrote stories to pass the time. He had little else to do, and having his younger brother, Innes Doyle, who helped in the surgery, always nearby, meant that Arthur had a lot of spare time.

Struggling to make ends meet, Doyle decided to try his hand at detective fiction, dissatisfied with the detective-fiction then in circulation. He based his legendary sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, on Dr. Joseph Bell, who was one of his lecturers at the University of Edinbrugh. Bell had introduced Doyle to the science of observation and deduction, and had the uncanny ability to diagnose patients’ ailments the moment they stepped into his office. Doyle was much impressed by this skill, and decided that it could just as easily be transferred from medical diagnosis to the detection of crime. One does not have to look far to see that Doyle based Dr. Watson, Holmes’s medical colleague, friend, chronicler and narrator of most of the stories, on himself. In 1887, Doyle published his first Holmes story: “A Study in Scarlet”. It was a runaway success. Within a few years, Doyle had made a name for himself as a detective-fiction writer and he was now living very comfortably from his royalties from his Holmes stories as well as his other writings.

Doyle got his ‘Sir Arthur’ title, his knighthood, in 1902, due to services rendered during the Boer War. He gave up writing Holmes in the early 1900s and only started writing about Holmes again when publishing-houses paid him big money to resurrect the character. He had initially killed Holmes off when he decided that his character was distracting him from what he considered his better and more important writings. In a letter to his mother, Mary, Sir Arthur wrote that:

“[Sherlock Holmes] keeps me from better things”.

Doyle wrote his very last volume of Holmes stories, ‘His Last Bow’, in the mid 1920s, just a few years before his death in 1930.

The Science of Deduction and the Art of Observation.

“…You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles…”

– The Boscombe Valley Mystery.

Sherlock Holmes solved his cases through what was called the ‘science of deduction’, where one examined minute details and drew conclusions from them. But one could not examine minute details if they did not first observe them. Mr. Holmes was like a radar or a heat-seeking missile dressed in a three-piece suit with a top hat and cane. He had the ability to seek out tiny details about his clients’ dress, appearance and accessories, to tell him who they were, why they had come to see him, and what their occupations were. He first observed them and then drew deductions and inferences from what he had observed. From one item, he could deduce its entire history. Using these skills, he was able to read into things, information that had eluded less observant investigators. And it’s not that hard to do. I’ve done it myself and, with practice, it does work. Think of this for example:

A letter with smudged handwriting with deep troughs in the paper from where the pen-point has been pressed into the page, combined with bleedthrough of the ink. What inferences might be drawn from this?

1. The writer is left-handed. Only a left-handed writer would smudge his ink, as his hand moves across the page (and thus, across the ink) as he writes.
2. He wrote with a ballpoint pen on a soft surface (perhaps on top of some newspaper or a notepad). Only a ballpoint pen requires such force in writing that it leaves trenches in the paper. And yet, these trenches would not exist if the paper had been on a perfectly hard, flat surface, like a desk. The ‘give’ provided by the padding of the extra sheets of paper, allowed the fibres of the page to crease under the pressure of the pen-point.
3. The paper is cheap notepad paper. If it was expensive or of a better quality, the ink would not stain all the way through.

It’s really not that hard.

Despite the fact that deductions, observation and inferences had existed before Doyle famously made them the traits of his master detective, nobody had ever thought to use them for the detection and solving of crimes before. This was what made Sherlock Holmes so revolutionary. It made his cases seem believable, possible…it made them seem…real. It was this realism that made him a success. It made people believe that it was possible to solve crimes, if one just spent enough time observing and studying the things that were in front of them every single day.

Having observed all the little details, it was then necessary to make the correct inferences and to draw the correct conclusions from the clues given to you, by applying various theories, until you found a likely one that held all the facts together.

“…It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts…”

– A Scandal in Bohemia.

Drawing the correct inferences could be easy, or it could be almost impossibly hard. It’s like trying to put together a puzzle and getting everything to fit together correctly, by removing what is obviously not possible, and examining all the real probabilities.

“When you have elminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”.

– The Sign of Four.

Sherlock Holmes: The Man.

“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don’t know”.

– The Blue Carbuncle.

Although Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made him seem incredibly real and again, it was this realism that led to his fame. Sherlock Holmes wasn’t some secret sleuth or caped crusader who lived in a cave in a mountain on the other side of the Valley of Doom, sitting on a throne made of marble…he lived in London. At 221b Baker Street, in the well-to-do West End, in a nice, central, normal-sounding address. He wore ordinary clothes, he ate ordinary food. He had a housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, an elderly Scotchwoman. He had his older brother, Mycroft. He even had his best friend: John Watson, M.D. This homely and seemingly real portrait of Sherlock Holmes endeared him to his readers as a real, physical being whom they could visit, talk to and whom they could go to for help.

Sherlock Holmes had his vices, like any other man would. He was rude, he was arrogant, he drank, he shot himself up with morphine and cocaine. He would stay awake for days and nights at time, he chain-smoked, he denied himself food when on a case, and he got injured during the course of his investigations, as any detective might. He carried firearms and other weapons and he had his enemies who wanted to kill him. Holmes never married and he rarely spoke of his family. The only one of Holmes’s relatives whom Doyle explicitly mentions (and even introduces the reader to), is Holmes’s brother, Mycroft, who is described as being seven years older than Sherlock and possessing even greater deductive and observational powers than his younger and more famous brother.

Holmes was described as being tall (6′-6’3″), lean, hawk-like, pale and with black hair. He said himself, that he was ‘exceptionally strong in the fingers’ (Beryl Coronet) and that he had ‘some knowledge of Baritsu’ (Empty House). He was able to hold his own in a fight and he had considerable acting ability, being able to fool Watson (and others) into thinking that he was…an Italian priest…a clergyman…a bookseller…an old man…and a common loafer.

Sherlock Holmes’s very name was a mix of the real and the fantastic. Holmes is an ordinary enough surname, but with a name like ‘Sherlock’, he was bound to stand out, the same with his brother, with a name like ‘Mycroft’. And yet, I suppose we should be thankful that Sherlock is just plain old…Sherlock. Early drafts of his first story had Doyle naming him Sherrinford Holmes! In the end, he decided this name was too flowery and flamboyant and that a simpler, but still stylish name, might be better-suited.

Behind every Good Detective is a Sidekick.

You coudn’t have a detective without a sidekick, a partner in crime-detection, someone whom you could rely on to assist you in your investigations. Holmes’s investigative partner was a man named Dr. John. H. Watson, whom Doyle based on himself. Doyle’s original name for Holmes’s friend and colleague was…Ormond Sacker, however, good taste and common-sense prevailed, and Doyle decided that such a name was unrealistic and too colourful. He decided that his narrator and Holmes’s colleague should have a simpler, more down-to-earth name. Something which everyone could relate to. An everyman name…such as…John Watson. Simple, plain, unpretentious and which could belong to any man in London.

Like Doyle, Watson was a physician with a military background. Doyle was a ship’s surgeon and a medical officer during the Boer War. Watson was a medical officer during the Second Afghan War of the 1880s. Watson’s physical description closely mirrored Doyle’s, being a man of average height, solidly built and who sported a neat moustache across his upper lip. Like his creator, Watson had money-troubles, betting his army pension on the horses and losing it in gambling. In “The Dancing Men”, we learn that Holmes keeps Watson’s chequebook locked in a drawer of his desk, where the good doctor cannot get at it, to spend his money unwisely.

The Holmesian canon is a peep into Victorian era medicine, thanks to Watson. In this Watsonian world, brandy is a cure for everything from fainting to suffocation to physical exhaustion. Tuberculosis is still called by its archaic name of ‘Consumption’ and sulphuric acid is still called ‘Oil of Vitriol’. Horrendous wounds such as having one’s fingers hacked off with a butcher’s cleaver are treated professionally and quietly, and Watson’s medical skills have come to the aid of Holmes and other canon characters on numerous occasions, whether it be injuries from being mauled by a dog, being beat up in a pub brawl or being set upon by a group of streetpads (an old, Victorian term for muggers).

The Ultimate Villain.

Doyle had created the ultimate sleuth, the ultimate sidekick…and now, he had to create the ultimate villain. Professor James Moriarty.

Prof. Moriarty is Holmes’s arch-nemesis, and the leader of a large and powerful gang which operates all over London. Holmes called him the ‘Napoleon of Crime’, and considered him his intellectual equal. Like Holmes, Moriarty was brainy, sly, careful, calculating and observant. This made him an excellent criminal. It also meant that it was very hard for Holmes to ever catch him, and they played a constant cat-and-mouse game throughout the canon. Moriarty meets his end in “The Final Problem”, the story in which he had wanted to kill off Sherlock Holmes as well. Moriarty, apart from being crafty and evil, also encapsulated the physical appearance of a master criminal. He was tall, thin, hawk-like, gruff, dangerous and uncompromising.

Immortal Holmes.

Even though he was created so many years ago, even though his world seems alien to us, he remains, as Holmes himself once said to Watson: “…the one fixed point in a changing age”. His world, his skills, his cases and the man who created him, will remain legendary for decades to come. His very, phyiscal profile is instantly recognisable, the world-over; the deerstalker hat, the cape and the curved, calabash pipe.