221B Baker Street
Encyclopedia
221B Baker Street is the London
address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes
, created by author Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle
. In the United Kingdom, postal addresses with a number followed by a letter may indicate a separate address within a larger, often residential building. Baker Street
in Holmes' time was a high-class residential district, and Holmes' apartment was probably part of a Georgian terrace
.
At the time the Holmes stories were published, addresses in Baker Street did not go as high as 221. Baker Street was later extended, and in 1932 the Abbey National Building Society
moved into premises at 219–229 Baker Street. For many years, Abbey National employed a full-time secretary to answer mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes. In 1990, a blue plaque
signifying 221B Baker Street was installed at the Sherlock Holmes Museum, situated elsewhere on the same block, and there followed a 15-year dispute between Abbey National and the Holmes Museum for the right to receive mail addressed to 221B Baker Street. Since the closure of Abbey House in 2005, ownership of the address by the Holmes Museum has not been challenged, despite its location between 237 and 241 Baker Street.
When the "Sherlock Holmes" stories were first published, street numbers in Baker Street only went up to 100, which was presumably why Conan Doyle chose a higher street number for the location of his hero, possibly to avoid problems with local residents who would have had to fend off many strange visitors at unearthly hours seeking the detective services of Mr. Holmes.
The section north of Marylebone Road
near Regent's Park
— now including 221 Baker Street — was known in Conan Doyle's lifetime as Upper Baker Street. In his first manuscript, Conan Doyle put Holmes' house in "Upper Baker Street," indicating that if he had a house in mind, it would have been there. However, a British crime novelist named Nigel Morland claimed that, late in Conan Doyle's life, he identified the intersection of Baker Street and George Street, about 500 metres south of Marylebone Road, as the location of 221B. Sherlockian experts have also held to alternative theories as to where the original 221B was located and have maintained that it was further down Baker Street.
When street numbers were re-allocated in the 1930s, the block of odd numbers from 215 to 229 was assigned to an Art Deco
building known as Abbey House, constructed in 1932 for the Abbey Road Building Society, which the society and its successor (which subsequently became Abbey National
plc) occupied until 2002.
Almost immediately, the building society started receiving correspondence from Sherlock Holmes fans all over the world, in such volumes that it appointed a permanent "secretary to Sherlock Holmes" to deal with it. A bronze plaque on the front of Abbey House carried a picture of Holmes and a quotation, but was removed from the building several years ago. Its whereabouts is presently unknown. In 1999, Abbey National sponsored the creation of a bronze statue of Sherlock Holmes that now stands at the entrance to Baker Street tube station.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum
is situated within an 1815 townhouse very similar to the 221B described in the stories and is located between 237 and 241 Baker Street. It displays exhibits in period rooms, wax figures and Holmes memorabilia, with the famous study overlooking Baker Street the highlight of the museum. The description of the house can be found throughout the stories, including the 17 steps leading from the ground-floor hallway to the first-floor study.
According to the published stories, "221B Baker Street" was a suite of rooms on the first floor of a lodging house above a flight of 17 steps. The main study overlooked Baker Street, and Holmes' bedroom was adjacent to this room at the rear of the house, with Dr. Watson's bedroom being on the 2nd floor (i.e., the 3rd floor in American usage), overlooking a rear yard that had a plane tree
in it.
, unveiled a blue plaque signifying the address of "221B Baker Street." She was invited to renumber the museum's building to coincide with its official opening (and because the number 221B had not been included in the original planning consent for the museum granted in October 1989). Council officials claim that Dame Shirley Porter was not acting as Leader of the council when she unveiled the famous blue plaque on the property in 1990, despite the fact that photographic evidence shows her wearing a rather gaudy badge bearing the words "Leader of the Council" while she unveiled the plaque in front of international media.
A long-running dispute over the number arose between the Sherlock Holmes Museum, the building society Abbey National
(which had previously answered the mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes) and subsequently the local Westminster City Council. The main objection to the Museum's role in answering the letters was the prosaic fact that the number 221B bestowed on the Museum by the Council was out of sequence with other numbers in the street: an issue that has since vexed local bureaucrats, who have striven for years to keep street numbers in sequence. In 2005, Abbey National vacated their headquarters on Baker Street, which left the museum to battle with Westminster City Council to end the dispute over the number, which had created negative publicity.
After the closure of Abbey House in 2005, the Post Office recognised the museum's exclusive right to receive mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes. As of November 11th, 2009, the building number 221 no longer exists in Baker Street and is now a reserved number, but 221B is still represented by the museum's official blue plaque. The address is also recorded on the Ordnance Survey Map of London and at the UK Land Registry.
Another version of Sherlock Holmes' apartment is at the Sherlock Holmes pub in Northumberland Street near Charing Cross railway station
. This was originally a small hotel, the Northumberland Arms, but was refurbished and reopened under its present name in December 1957. Its owners, Whitbread & Co, were fortunate to own the entire Sherlock Holmes exhibit put together by Marylebone Borough Library and the Abbey National for the 1951 Festival of Britain
. The pub was restored to a late Victorian
form and the exhibit, a detailed replica of Holmes' fictional apartment, was installed on the upstairs floor.
:
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
, created by author Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
. In the United Kingdom, postal addresses with a number followed by a letter may indicate a separate address within a larger, often residential building. Baker Street
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 the street out in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at a fictional 221B...
in Holmes' time was a high-class residential district, and Holmes' apartment was probably part of a Georgian terrace
Terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
.
At the time the Holmes stories were published, addresses in Baker Street did not go as high as 221. Baker Street was later extended, and in 1932 the Abbey National Building Society
Abbey National
Abbey National plc was a UK-based bank and former building society, which latterly traded under the Abbey brand name. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Grupo Santander of Spain in 2004, and was rebranded as Santander in January 2010, forming Santander UK along with the savings business of the...
moved into premises at 219–229 Baker Street. For many years, Abbey National employed a full-time secretary to answer mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes. In 1990, a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
signifying 221B Baker Street was installed at the Sherlock Holmes Museum, situated elsewhere on the same block, and there followed a 15-year dispute between Abbey National and the Holmes Museum for the right to receive mail addressed to 221B Baker Street. Since the closure of Abbey House in 2005, ownership of the address by the Holmes Museum has not been challenged, despite its location between 237 and 241 Baker Street.
Conan Doyle's intentions
We met next day as he had arranged, and inspected the rooms at No. 221B, Baker Street, of which he had spoken at our meeting. They consisted of a couple of comfortable bed-rooms and a single large airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad windows.
(Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, 1887)
When the "Sherlock Holmes" stories were first published, street numbers in Baker Street only went up to 100, which was presumably why Conan Doyle chose a higher street number for the location of his hero, possibly to avoid problems with local residents who would have had to fend off many strange visitors at unearthly hours seeking the detective services of Mr. Holmes.
The section north of Marylebone Road
Marylebone Road
Marylebone Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, within the City of Westminster. It runs east-west from the Euston Road at Regent's Park to the A40 Westway at Paddington...
near Regent's Park
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...
— now including 221 Baker Street — was known in Conan Doyle's lifetime as Upper Baker Street. In his first manuscript, Conan Doyle put Holmes' house in "Upper Baker Street," indicating that if he had a house in mind, it would have been there. However, a British crime novelist named Nigel Morland claimed that, late in Conan Doyle's life, he identified the intersection of Baker Street and George Street, about 500 metres south of Marylebone Road, as the location of 221B. Sherlockian experts have also held to alternative theories as to where the original 221B was located and have maintained that it was further down Baker Street.
Abbey National
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
building known as Abbey House, constructed in 1932 for the Abbey Road Building Society, which the society and its successor (which subsequently became Abbey National
Abbey National
Abbey National plc was a UK-based bank and former building society, which latterly traded under the Abbey brand name. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Grupo Santander of Spain in 2004, and was rebranded as Santander in January 2010, forming Santander UK along with the savings business of the...
plc) occupied until 2002.
Almost immediately, the building society started receiving correspondence from Sherlock Holmes fans all over the world, in such volumes that it appointed a permanent "secretary to Sherlock Holmes" to deal with it. A bronze plaque on the front of Abbey House carried a picture of Holmes and a quotation, but was removed from the building several years ago. Its whereabouts is presently unknown. In 1999, Abbey National sponsored the creation of a bronze statue of Sherlock Holmes that now stands at the entrance to Baker Street tube station.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum
Sherlock Holmes Museum
The Sherlock Holmes Museum is a popular privately-run museum in London, England, dedicated to the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It opened in 1990 and is situated in Baker Street, bearing the number 221B by permission of the City of Westminster, although it lies between numbers 237 and...
is situated within an 1815 townhouse very similar to the 221B described in the stories and is located between 237 and 241 Baker Street. It displays exhibits in period rooms, wax figures and Holmes memorabilia, with the famous study overlooking Baker Street the highlight of the museum. The description of the house can be found throughout the stories, including the 17 steps leading from the ground-floor hallway to the first-floor study.
According to the published stories, "221B Baker Street" was a suite of rooms on the first floor of a lodging house above a flight of 17 steps. The main study overlooked Baker Street, and Holmes' bedroom was adjacent to this room at the rear of the house, with Dr. Watson's bedroom being on the 2nd floor (i.e., the 3rd floor in American usage), overlooking a rear yard that had a plane tree
Platanus
Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....
in it.
Address controversy
The street number 221B was assigned to the Sherlock Holmes Museum on March 27th, 1990, when the Leader of Westminster City Council, Lady Shirley PorterShirley Porter
Dame Shirley Porter, Lady Porter, DBE, is a former Conservative leader of Westminster City Council in London and a prominent philanthropist in Israel and the UK. She is the daughter and heir of Sir Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco supermarkets...
, unveiled a blue plaque signifying the address of "221B Baker Street." She was invited to renumber the museum's building to coincide with its official opening (and because the number 221B had not been included in the original planning consent for the museum granted in October 1989). Council officials claim that Dame Shirley Porter was not acting as Leader of the council when she unveiled the famous blue plaque on the property in 1990, despite the fact that photographic evidence shows her wearing a rather gaudy badge bearing the words "Leader of the Council" while she unveiled the plaque in front of international media.
A long-running dispute over the number arose between the Sherlock Holmes Museum, the building society Abbey National
Abbey National
Abbey National plc was a UK-based bank and former building society, which latterly traded under the Abbey brand name. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Grupo Santander of Spain in 2004, and was rebranded as Santander in January 2010, forming Santander UK along with the savings business of the...
(which had previously answered the mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes) and subsequently the local Westminster City Council. The main objection to the Museum's role in answering the letters was the prosaic fact that the number 221B bestowed on the Museum by the Council was out of sequence with other numbers in the street: an issue that has since vexed local bureaucrats, who have striven for years to keep street numbers in sequence. In 2005, Abbey National vacated their headquarters on Baker Street, which left the museum to battle with Westminster City Council to end the dispute over the number, which had created negative publicity.
After the closure of Abbey House in 2005, the Post Office recognised the museum's exclusive right to receive mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes. As of November 11th, 2009, the building number 221 no longer exists in Baker Street and is now a reserved number, but 221B is still represented by the museum's official blue plaque. The address is also recorded on the Ordnance Survey Map of London and at the UK Land Registry.
The Sherlock Holmes pub
Charing Cross railway station
Charing Cross railway station, also known as London Charing Cross, is a central London railway terminus in the City of Westminster, England. It is one of 18 stations managed by Network Rail, and trains serving it are operated by Southeastern...
. This was originally a small hotel, the Northumberland Arms, but was refurbished and reopened under its present name in December 1957. Its owners, Whitbread & Co, were fortunate to own the entire Sherlock Holmes exhibit put together by Marylebone Borough Library and the Abbey National for the 1951 Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
. The pub was restored to a late Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
form and the exhibit, a detailed replica of Holmes' fictional apartment, was installed on the upstairs floor.
Satire and homage
The fictional address has been satirized in the following pastiches of Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
:
- Basil of Baker StreetBasil of Baker StreetBasil of Baker Street is a children's book series created by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone. The stories focus on Basil of Baker Street and his personal biographer Doctor David Q. Dawson. Together they solve the many crimes and cases of the mouse world...
resides in 221½ Baker Street, a mouse-hole beneath 221B Baker Street.
- Private detective Louie Knight moves into an office at 22/1B Stryd-y-Popty (which translates as Baker Street in Welsh) in Malcolm PryceMalcolm PryceFor the footballer, see Malcolm Price.Malcolm Pryce is a British author, mostly known for his noir detective novels.Born in Shrewsbury, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to Aberystwyth, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive School before leaving to do some travelling. After working...
's Welsh Noir parody The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth, ISBN 978-0-7475-7894-9.
- The 1987 CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
movie The Return of Sherlock Holmes (not to be confused with the 1986 British television series of the same name) features Holmes, cryogenically frozen in 1899 and awakened in modern times, trying to adapt with the aid of Watson's granddaughter, Jane. He seeks out his old residence and finds the spot occupied by a McDonald'sMcDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
franchise.
- In the Jake 2.0Jake 2.0Jake 2.0 is an American science fiction television series originally broadcast on UPN in 2003. The series was canceled on January 14, 2004 due to low ratings, leaving four episodes unaired in the United States. In the United Kingdom, all the episodes aired on Sky1...
episode "The Good, the Bad, and the Geeky," Jake's secondary safe house in BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
is "221B Bakerstrasse."
- Dr. Gregory HouseGregory HouseGregory House, M.D., or simply referred to as House, is a fictional antihero and title character of the American television series House, played by Hugh Laurie. He is the Chief of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where he leads a team of diagnosticians...
, the protagonist of House, M.D.House (TV series)House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, lives at 221 Baker Street, Apartment B, Princeton, NJ, 08542, as shown on the character's driver license seen in the episode "Two Stories" first aired February 21, 2011. This address previously appears on the $5,000 check he writes (and eventually slides through the mail slot) to Lorenzo Wibberly in Season 6, Episode 11: "Remorse."
- Danger Mouse, in the cartoon show of the same name, is said to live in a post boxPost boxA post box is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intended for collection by the agents of a country's postal service...
near 221b Baker Street. However, Danger Mouse is a loose parody of Danger ManDanger ManDanger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
and James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
, rather than Sherlock Holmes.
- In the video game Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's RevengeMonkey Island 2: LeChuck's RevengeMonkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts in 1991. It was the second game of the Monkey Island series, following The Secret of Monkey Island, and the sixth LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine. It was the first game to use the iMUSE sound...
, 221B Baker St. is one of the addresses Guybrush ThreepwoodGuybrush ThreepwoodGuybrush Ulysses Threepwood is the main character of the Monkey Island series of computer adventure games by LucasArts. The voice of Guybrush is actor Dominic Armato in the third, fourth and fifth games, as well as the enhanced remakes of The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's...
can give when applying for a library card on Phatt Island.
- Shinichi Kudo, the protagonist of the Detective Conan series by Gosho AoyamaGosho Aoyama, born on June 21, 1963 in Hokuei, Tottori Prefecture, Japan is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series Detective Conan .-Educational background:Aoyama was talented in drawing even at an early age...
, resides in 2/21B Beika ("Baker" when transcribed to English) Street. Most landmarks and brand names in the series pay homage to this famous address as well, including the Beika Elementary School where Conan Edogawa studies.
- In the Phryne FisherPhryne Fisher- External links :*...
series by Kerry GreenwoodKerry GreenwoodKerry Greenwood is a solicitor from Melbourne, Australia. She is also the author of many plays and books, most notably a string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher. She writes mysteries, science-fiction, historical fiction, and children's stories, as well as...
, the detective Hon. Phryne Fisher resides at 221 The Esplanade, St Kilda (Melbourne, Australia), which she renumbers to 221B in homage to Holmes.
- In Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, Data tells another crew member that he can be found at 221b Baker St, episode 29 "Elementary, Dear Data", and 221b Baker St. is again referenced in episode 137 "Ship in a Bottle".
- In the MMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing gameMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
Wizard101Wizard101Wizard101 is a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game created by KingsIsle Entertainment. Players take on the role of students of Wizardry to save the Spiral , and battle a variety of creatures by casting spells using a turn-based combat system similar to collectible card games...
, a detective named Sherlock Bones lives in an apartment at 221B Barker Street in Marleybone, a spoof of 19th century London populated by dogs.
- In the Martian Successor NadesicoMartian Successor Nadesico, is a science fiction comedy anime TV series, and a later manga series created by Kia Asamiya. The manga, published in English by CPM Manga, is significantly different from the anime....
episode "Ruri's Navigation Logs", one of the victims of the Satsuki Midori Station destruction called Doc Holiday is mentioned living at 221B Baker Street.
External links
- The Sherlock Holmes Museum
- The Baker Street Journal an Irregular quarterly of Sherlockiana
- 221B Baker Street Floor Plan Illustration
- 221b Blue Plaque