Sherlockian Sojourns #85: As Seen On Screen 23 – ‘Candlin’ (Magdalen) College [‘Young Sherlock’ (2026)]

Having previously visited the Bristol locations standing in for Oxford in ‘Young Sherlock’ [2026] , it was time to journey to Oxford itself. Having spent the morning at an Anime event just outside the City Centre, meeting voices from three Sherlockian-themed Anime series – Chuck Huber (who plays Holmes in the epilogue of the Watson-led “The Empire of Corpses” [2015], and had also played the part on stage he informed me), Dallas Reid (who plays the Young Watson in “Kabukichou Sherlock” [2020]), and Jason Douglas (who plays Jefferson Hope in three episodes of “Moriarty The Patriot” [2020]) – I walked the twenty minutes back into Central Oxford, and Magdalen College.

Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, which was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England and named after St Mary Magdalene. The college succeeded a university hall called Magdalen Hall, founded by Waynflete in 1448, and from which the college drew most of its earliest scholars. The college appears as ‘Candlin College’ in ‘Young Sherlock’, being where Sherlock (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) works and Moriarty (Donal Finn) studies.

Paying for entry, I found myself in St. John’s Quad, which serves as the entrance to the College, both in reality and in the series.

My next port of call was the College Chapel, a Grade I Listed Building, which was built between 1474 and 1480, although it owes its present appearance largely to neo-Gothic works carried out in the 18th and 19th centuries. The roof, giving the impression of a stone vaulted ceiling, is in fact a facsimile made from plaster added in 1790 by neo-Gothic architect James Wyatt. As a High Anglican chapel, its tradition is influenced by the Counter-Reformation in the Church of England. It was here Gulun Shou'an (Zine Tseng) meets Esad Kasgarli (Numan Acar) in Episode 2.

    

Exiting the Chapel, I made my way through to the Cloisters which appear briefly in the early episodes, but were best known to me for a scene in the first ‘Inspector Morse’ episode ‘The Dead of Jericho‘ where Morse (John Thaw) passes Colin Dexter (making the first of his many cameos). Part of the way round was a set of stairs leading to the College Dining Hall (which features heavily in Episode 1 of ‘Young Sherlock’), but these were closed off to visitors today.

Exiting the cloisters onto the New Building Lawns, in front of me was the impressive New Building which began construction in 1733, as a part of Edward Holdsworth's designs from 1731. It is built in a Palladian style, and features a colonnade. It was conceived as one side of a new ‘Great Quadrangle’, and in anticipation of this the building's ends had been left unfinished. However, Holdsworth's full vision was never completed, and the ends of the building were finally completed in 1824 with two returns designed by Thomas Harrison. This building appeared as the ‘Hodge Science Hall’, named for Bucephalus Hodge (Colin Firth) and being where gives his lecture in Episode 1, which is curtailed when Holmes and Moriarty indicate that there is a bomb in the cellars.

    

Back in St John’s Quad, I managed to take a few photos through foliage of St. Swithun’s Quad which appears in Episode 1, as the exterior of the party crashed by Holmes and Moriarty, as this area of the college was only accessible to Fellows and Students at the college.

Exiting the College, I took a photo of the High Street Gate through which Gulun Shou’an is seen entering the College.

From here it was a fifteen minute walk to Merton Street, where Sherlock arrives in Oxford with Mycroft (Max Irons) in Episode 1, and the Gate to Corpus Christi College where Moriarty and Sherlock are standing in Episode 2.

  

 

Unfortunately, it was too late in the day to gain access to the other main Oxford locations – all parts of the Bodleian Library. Two of these, the Divinity School and the Duke Humfreys Library (the latter being from where the Princess’ scrolls are stolen in the first episode) are visitable via a guided half-hour tour, but this had sold out hours before. I therefore purchased a couple of postcards – one of Magdalen College New Building and one of the Duke Humfreys Library – before browsing the bookshops of Oxford, then catching my train home.