Contender for ‘Capleton’ the riding stables of Lord Backwater
Tag: Devon
Devon
Devon featured in two Sherlock Holmes stories.
The first is probably the most celebrated of all the stories: The Hound of The Baskervilles which was serialised as nine monthly episodes within the British edition of The Strand Magazine between August 1901 and April 1902. Two dates have been given for when the story took place- 1889 and 1900. The second story is Silver Blaze which appeared in The Strand Magazine in 1892 and has been set in Autumn 1887 or Autumn 1888. Sir Arthur knew Devon very well, visiting the county ten times and ultimately spending four months there in total. Between Friday 31 May and Sunday 2nd June 1901 Sir Arthur visited Dartmoor with his friend Fletcher Robinson in order to undertake location research on “The Hound” staying at The Duchy Hotel at Princetown and later at Fletcher Robinson’s home at Ipplepen.
Dr Watson’s descriptions of locations, the geographic features, towns and houses are not accurate. There is plenty of scope for speculation. This is particularly the case with Baskerville Hall – which is probably an amalgam of a number of properties- including Cromer Hall in Norfolk- which is obviously not in Devon!
The Society has visited Devon on a number of occasions including 2002 and 2014. Further details of the sites can be found in “Radical Rethinks on Hound and Horse” obtainable here and “The Hound of the Baskervilles- Hunting the Dartmoor Legend by Philip Weller Devon Books 2001
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Woodman’s Corner
Contender for King’s Pyland, the stables where Silver Blaze was held and where John Straker lived
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Tavistock North Railway Station
Where Holmes and Watson alight on their journey from London Paddington
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Hound Tor
It does not appear in the story but was used in the making of the “Sherlock” TV series with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
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Fox Tore Mire and Whiteworks
Probably Grimpen Mire.
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Coal Mires and Wheal Caroline
Possibly Grimpen Mire.
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Bellever Tor
Watson sees this Tor after leaving Lafter Hall in his endeavour to track down the Man on the Tor.
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Widecombe in the Moor
Another candidate for Grimpen.
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Park Hill House
Park Hill House was the home of Fletcher Robinson's parents stayed in by ACD on Sunday 2nd June 1901 after he had spent Friday 31st May and Saturday 1st June on Dartmoor looking at locations for The Hound with Fletcher Robinson and his head coachman Henry Baskerville.
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Princetown
Setting of the “great convict prison” which housed Selden the Notting Hill Murderer and from where he escaped and also the National Park Centre formerly The Grand Duchy Hotel where Sir Athur and Fletcher Robinson stayed and where Sir Arthur started to write part of the story.