Sherlockian Sojourns # 8: London Locations from 'Sherlock: Series 4' & Doylean Plaques

Having waited for nine months since the end of Series 4 of 'Sherlock' for Sherlockology to update their excellent location guide, I decided to compile my own list of London locations used in Series 4 from various online sources, then planned a route around them.

Leaving later than planned due to heavy rain that the forecast indicated would 'pass over', my first port of call was Vauxhall Bridge which Sherlock runs across in 'The Six Thatchers' on his way to the London Aquarium. Travelling to Vauxhall Station (and having to stop myself getting on a bus to go to work), I crossed the bridge, taking photos from a vantage point.

 Continuing on, I made my way to Pimlico Station and then via Stockwell to Borough tube. Walking down a well-known side street (it is the location of one of the two Probation Offices that the majority of the people that I write reports then have to attend for supervision), I made my way to Trinity Church Square, which was the beginning of Sherlock, John & Mary's pursuit with Toby the dog, also in 'The Six Thatchers'. Unfortunately preparations being made for a Philharmonic concert that evening meant I could not get as close as I wanted to the main building.

Retracing my steps I made my way down Borough High Street, until I reached Borough Market where the pursuit continued. It being lunchtime, it was very busy.

 

Exiting to London Bridge Station, I caught the Jubilee Line to Westminster, exiting via the concourse seen in 'The Empty Hearse'. Crossing Westminster Bridge I made my may to the South Bank, and the London Aquarium where the tragic conclusion of 'The Six Thatchers' played out.

 

A quick walk back to Waterloo Station, and I was catching the Northern Line to Camden Town, where after a ten minute walk, stopping halfway at a supermarket to buy some lunch, I found myself at the Rochester Square Spiritualist Temple. 

On Saturday 30th October 1926, the foundation stone of this Temple was laid by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (hence my interest), and the Temple was opened and dedicated on 15th April 1927. However, in recent years, the Temple has fallen into ruin, and has been sold to a developer. The Temple is to be converted into nine flats and an art gallery by Urban-lab. These plans are currently being opposed by spiritualist campaigners including Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, with squatting in the property. I therefore wished to see the building before it may be destroyed.

Returning to Camden Town Station, I caught the Northern Line back to Goodge Street. On exiting the Station it became clear that the rain had not 'passed over'. Therefore under an umbrella, I made my way to Byng Place, which is where Sherlock ate chips with his disguised sister in 'The Lying Detective'. The bus stop where they sat was a prop, but the multiple phoneboxes were not.

 

I then made my way on foot to Leicester Square, making a brief detour to 'Forbidden Planet' without buying anything, and towards Piccadilly Circus, and into Panton Street, and the 'Tom Cribb' Public House, which owes its current name to Conan Doyle, who referred to it as such in 'Rodney Stone'.

Walking onto the Haymarket, I caught a #23 bus to Fleet Street and 'Wine Office Court', home of the 'Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese' Public House. This Court takes its name from the Excise Office which was here up to 1665. Voltaire came and, says tradition, Congreve and Pope, Dr Johnson lived in Gough Square (end of the Court on the left), and finished his Great Dictionary there in 1755. Johnson's friends, including Conan Doyle, also frequented this area, and there is a plaque commemorating this.

Walking past 'Poppins Court' (which as 'Popes Court' features in the short-story 'The Red-Headed League') and between the Central Criminal Court  (which features in 'The Reichenbach Fall') and St. Bartholomew's Hospital (which has both canonical and 'Sherlock' significance), I made my past St. Paul's Cathedral (from Guy Richie's 'Sherlock Holmes') to catch the Central Line and TfL Rail to Ilford and my final port of call.

   

My evening's entertainment was to be 'Sherlock Holmes and the Crimson Cobbles', a comedy presented by Theatre Chipping Norton for one night at the Kenneth More Theatre. Holmes and Watson are called upon to investigate the Whitechapel murders that are sending shockwaves through London. But when the evidence points to only one possible and inconceivable conclusion about the identity of Jack the Ripper, is our super sleuth prepared to believe the unbelievable? 

An evening of breakneck paced comedy, and I was making my way home at the very civilised time of 9.15pm.