The Statue of Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street Station

THE STATUE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES AT BAKER STREET STATION

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The idea for a memorial to Sherlock Holmes took root early on. After his supposed death in The Final Problem suggestions had been put forward by for some form of monument. His restoration to life naturally curtailed such discussion. Nonetheless in the succeeding early years of the century visitors to Baker Street often attempted to seek out the rooms at 221B as though they were a kind of shrine. By the 1920's the issue of a statue had resurfaced. In 1927 the celebrated writer G.K. Chesterton, creator of that other popular detective, Father Brown, called for a statue of Sherlock Holmes in Baker Street and a few years later, in 1933, the Bookman published a cartoon of the statue of Holmes being unveiled by Chesterton. Nothing more concrete, however, happened. The hundredth anniversary of Holmes’ first appearance in print was an obvious moment for plans but, so far as London was concerned, the moment passed.

In the end the honour of erecting the first full-size statue of Sherlock Holmes fell to Switzerland. In September 1988, in the presence of a large contingent from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London and other Holmesian groups, Dame Jean Conan Doyle unveiled a statue of her father’s creation in the main square in Meiringen. This statue was created by the 40 year old British sculptor, John Doubleday, previously responsible for figures of such diverse subjects as King Olav V of Norway, The Duke of Edinburgh, Charlie Chaplin, The Beatles and Laurence Olivier.

Shortly after the Swiss statue it was the turn of the Japanese. On the 9th October 1988 their own statue, sculpted by Satoh Yoshinori, was unveiled at Koshinzuka Park in Karuizawa. This statue is life-size. The efforts of enthusiastic Japanese Holmesians had convinced the initially reluctant civic authorities that the subject was appropriate. One hundred people attended the ceremony including thirty-eight Japanese in Victorian costumes.

The third statue was put up in Edinburgh at Picardy Place, near Doyle’s birthplace. It was the idea of the local branch of the Federation of Master Builders and was sculpted by Gerald Ogilvie-Laing. The statue is 7½ feet high and was unveiled on the 24th June 1991. A curious feature is an inscription on the pipe in French. Whilst work was in progress on the statue there had been complaints that the figure of Holmes smoking might encourage bad habits in young people. Accordingly the inscription, following a precedent set by Magritte, reads “Ceci n’est pas un pipe.”

Meanwhile in London there was still no statue. The initiative finally was taken by the Sherlock Holmes Society of London who formed that view that, although the Holmesian centenary had passed, the turn of the millennium provided another suitable pretext. In the early part of 1996 discussions were held with Westminster City Council and also London Transport, who own much of the land surrounding Baker Street station, with a view to enlisting their support. There were few, if any, potential sites for a statue in Baker Street itself and so it was decided from the beginning that the most appropriate site would be close to the south entrance of the Underground railway station. The site is a few metres from Baker Street but on the other hand the Underground itself has impeccable canonical credential, featuring prominently in The Red-headed League, The Beryl Coronet and The Bruce Partington Plans.

John Doubleday was once more chosen as sculptor and the choice was an obvious one. He was an internationally respected artist. He was very interested in the project and he had close links with the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. During the remainder of 1996 and into 1997 talks ensued as to the means of raising money, obtaining the necessary permissions and tackling the technical problems. The Society decided to adopt a very formal and cautious approach to the task and set up a  company, The Sherlock Holmes Statue Company Limited, to oversee matters and act as fundraisers. Richard Lancelyn Green, Tony Howlett and Peter Horrocks became directors of the company. Lawyers and accountants were engaged to ensure that everything was done properly. A colourful fund-raising prospectus was produced and special stationery printed. The public appeal fund was instituted. On the 20th November 1997 the first of many articles in the British and foreign press about the project appeared in The Evening Standard.

An obvious potential donor to approach was Abbey National PLC, whose headquarters building was then at 215-229 Baker Street and therefore supposedly occupied the site of 221B. Following a meeting at the bank their chairman, Lord Tugendhat, at once expressed enthusiastic and by early 1998 they had agreed to provide most of the funds for the statue. At their wish, however, no public announcement was made for some months. The appeal fund remained open to ensure that adequate funds were secured to cover all costs and provide a fund to maintain the statue for the future but with Abbey National’s backing it was possible for the statue company to sign a contract with John Doubleday on the 31st March 1998.

The statue was finally unveiled by Lord Tugendhat on Thursday, the 23rd September 1999 with speeches from him and the President of the Society, Tony Howlett. Around the unveiling the Society organised a week-long festival of activities to mark the occasion. The opening reception was in the high walkways of Tower Bridge. Then on successive days there were events at venues as diverse as The British Library, The House of Lords, Lord’s Cricket Ground and Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. There was also a Victorian music hall evening at the Players’ Theatre, a Sherlock Holmes play at The Cockpit Theatre and a symposium featuring some of the world’s most eminent Holmesian speakers. By way of culmination of the week’s events there was a stately procession to the statue on the morning of Saturday, the 25th September featuring a horse bus and a hansom cab, both authentic public vehicles constructed in the 1880's and a formal handover of guardianship of the statue to the City of Westminster..

The statue is impressive . It stands over 9 feet tall, even without its plinth and occupies a very prominent position in one of London’s busiest tourist thoroughfares, near Madame Tussaud’s waxworks Museum. It is now a London landmark in its own right and is one of the first major sights to greet visitors to London as they approach the centre of town along Marylebone Road. There is only one other statue in London of an allegedly fictitious character, that of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Both are among the most popular of all London’s monuments.

Peter Horrocks

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