Sherlockian Sojourns - Special #4: ‘Was there ever a more exact demonstration ?'

‘A path led us through the pheasant preserves, and then from a clearing we saw the widespread, half-timbered house, half Tudor and half Georgian, upon the crest of the hill. Beside us there was a long, reedy pool, constricted in the centre where the main carriage drive passed over a stone bridge, but swelling into small lakes on either side’   [THOR]

 

 

One of my favourite stories is ‘The Problem of Thor Bridge’, the solution of which is my favourite in the Canon. Therefore, in May 2014, I decided to travel to the estate of the Gold King Neil Gibson, the scene of the cleverest of crimes. Catching a train to Clapham Junction, I changed onto a train to Winchfield Station (situated between Fleet and Hook), where Holmes and Watson would have arrived on their rescue mission for the accused governess, Grace Dunbar.

 

Leaving the station, I made my way towards the village of Odiham, passing the entrance to a Pet Crematorium. Reaching a stile, I crossed onto a footbath across a field. Crossing another stile, I continued along the left-hand edge of a large field, eventually reaching a gravel driveway and the church of St. Mary the Virgin, which dates from 1150. Passing to the right of the church, I left its churchyard through a wooden swing gate, hidden behind a large tree. Passing through three squeeze gates I reached Stacey's Bridge over the Basingstoke Canal. Going down to the towpath, I passed under three bridges, before taking the enclosed grassy path to the left of a metal fieldgate.

 

It was here that I got a distant view of ‘Thor Bridge’ Mansion  (now known as Dogmersfield Park) The Georgian mansion was built in 1728. It suffered major damage in a fire in 1981. Since 2005 it has been the Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire. 

 

 

Reaching Sprat's Hatch Farm, I kept ahead on its driveway and followed it round to the left. Shortly afterwards, I went through a metal gate ahead, following an enclosed path between fields. At a T-junction, I turned left towards Tundry Pond (‘the long, reedy pool’). According to legend, the Pond was the original site of Dogmersfield village, which was relocated over a hill to the east because the owner of Dogmersfield Park wanted a lake view. The South Bridge was the bridge where Maria Pinto met her death.

 

I then retraced my steps to Winchfield Station, and made my way home.