The Sherlock Holmes' Museum

The Sherlock Holmes' Museum

In the 1880s a young doctor sat waiting for new patients who never came. To pass the time, he wrote stories about a man who was very good at solving crimes.

These stories were so popular that the doctor decided to give up medicine and become a writer instead. The doctor was Arthur Conan Doyle and his' creation was Sherlock Holmes.

Holmes and his famous friend Doctor Watson shared rooms at 221b Baker Street.

Their landlady was the long-suffering Mrs. Hudson. She had to put up with strange visitors, revolver practice indoors, chemical experiments and late-time violin playing.

In 1990, a museum was at last opened at 221b Baker Street, though it should have happened long ago. After all, 221b Baker Street is the worlds most famous address and people have been writing to it for more than 100 years.

Everything in the museum reminds us of the stories we know so well. It is filled with things which Holmes and Watson would have had — Holmes' violin, his deerstalker and pipe, the Persian slipper in which he kept his tobacco, unanswered letters pinned to the wall with a knife, his magnifying glass.

The Sherlock Holmes' Museum is unlike other museums. Very little here is locked up in glass cases. You can sit in Holmes' s armchair by the fireplace, you can examine his things and put on his deerstalker. But please bring your own pipe to smoke!

People have been writing to this address for the last 100 years. Most letters come from the United States and many correspondents ask if Mr. Holmes can help them with some problem, such as finding a missing relative (or a pet). Greeting cards arrive at Christmas and on Holmes' birthday (he was born on January, 6th). Dr. Watson is not forgotten either.