The Sherlock Holmes Museum is a privately run museum in London, England, dedicated to the famous fictional detective

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

. It is the world's first museum dedicated to the literary character Sherlock Holmes. It opened in 1990 and is situated on

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

, bearing the number 221B by permission of the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

, although it lies between numbers 237 and 241, near the north end of Baker Street in central London close to

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

. The

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

town house which the museum occupies as "221B Baker Street" was built in 1815. It was formerly used as a boarding house from 1860 to 1936. It covers the period of 1881 to 1904 when the stories describe Sherlock Holmes and

Doctor Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle fe ...

residing there as tenants of

Mrs Hudson Mrs. Hudson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. She is the landlady of 221B Baker Street, the London residence in which Sherlock Holmes lives. Mrs. Hudson appears or is mentioned in man ...

. The house is listed Grade 2 by the Government because of its special architectural and historical features. The museum features exhibits items from several different adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, and recreations of scenes from the 1984

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

series ''

''.

Numbering dispute

Sherlock Holmes Museum - Sitting Room - London England

The address 221B was the subject of a protracted dispute between the museum and the nearby Abbey National building. Since the 1930s, the

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

had been delivering mail addressed to

to the Abbey National Bank, and they had employed a special secretary to deal with such correspondence. The museum went through several appeals for such mail to be delivered to it, on the grounds that it was the most appropriate organisation to respond to the mail, rather than the bank, whose primary business was to lend money out on interest. Although these initiatives were all unsuccessful, the issue was finally resolved in 2002 when the Abbey National vacated its headquarters after seventy years, and the mail is currently delivered to the museum.

Family objections

Jean Conan Doyle Air Commandant Dame Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle, Lady Bromet, (21 December 1912 – 18 November 1997) was a British military officer in the Women's Royal Air Force. The second daughter of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, she was a spirited child who ...

made clear her lack of enthusiasm for the museum when she was asked about it. She was very much against the idea of suggesting that her father's creation was a real person and knew that the presence of the museum would reinforce the idea in the minds of many that Holmes had really existed. This idea was strengthened further by the presence of a commemorative

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

on the outside that states the years of Holmes's supposed residency. However, Dame Jean Conan Doyle lent her support to the Sherlock Holmes Museum in Switzerland by attending its opening in 1991. Dame Jean was offered the opportunity to create a room in the London museum dedicated to her father, but this offer was refused, and since then the last remaining possessions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have been sold off at auction. File:Sherlock Holmes Museum 001.jpg, Sherlock Holmes "Sitting Room" File:Sherlock Holmes Museum 003.jpg, The table set in "Sherlock Holmes's Room" File:Sherlock Holmes Museum Study 1.jpg, Sherlock's laboratory File:Sherlock Holmes Museum 004.jpg, "Holmes' Bedroom" File:Typewriter in Sherlock Holmes Museum.jpg, The typewriter at the end time of the 19th century File:Sherlock Holmes Museum 007.jpg, "Dr Watson's Room", books File:Sherlock Holmes Museum 011.jpg, Bathroom. File:Sherlock Holmes Museum 002.jpg, Sherlock Holmes Museum, Baker Street,"The Study", File:Sherlock Holmes Museum 009.jpg, Cyclist sculpture, put on display to illustrate the short story "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist" File:Sherlock Holmes Museum 008.jpg, "Mrs Hudson's Room", fireplace File:Sherlock Holmes Museum 006.jpg, "Dr Watson's Room", washstand

References

External links

The Sherlock Holmes Museum
{{HolmesNovels Sherlock Holmes 1990 establishments in England Holmes, Sherlock Literary museums in London Museums established in 1990 Museums in the City of Westminster