Julian Barnes, the Booker Prize winning novelist, the crime writer Ian Rankin
and Stephen Fry have teamed up with the Victorian Society and Jeremy Hunt, the
culture secretary, to stop the grade-II listed building being turned into
townhouses.
The High Court heard yesterday that Fossway Ltd, a company based in the
Virgin Islands, wants to partially demolish it and convert it to eight separate
homes.
Despite its literary importance and listing, the local authority Waverley
Council issued decision notices in September 2010 allowing the owner to
redevelop the property set in four acres of land.
The decision has caused an outcry and a judicial review of the decision was
yesterday heard at the High Court in London.
The home, called Undershaw, was built in 1897 to Sir Arthur's specifications
and was where he wrote 13 Sherlock Holmes stories and entertained many of his
literary and artistic friends including JM Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan and
Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula.
But the house has laid empty since 2005 and has been allowed to become
dilapidated.
Supporters argue it is a "national literary treasure" and say it could be
used as a study centre and tourist attraction.
But the off shore owner see it just as a "development opportunity".
Paul Stinchcombe QC, representing John Gibson, founder of the Undershaw
Preservation Trust, said there was strong public support for preserving
Undershaw as a heritage asset because of its literary and historic importance.
It was the house in which Conan Doyle resurrected Sherlock Holmes, one of the
most recognisable fictional characters in the world, in The Adventure Of The
Empty House.
The author designed Undershaw and lived there from 1897-1907, completing 13
Sherlock Holmes stories in that time, including his most famous work The Hound
Of The Baskervilles.
The building has been seriously neglected by the current owners, who view it
as a "development opportunity", said a QC.
Mr Stinchcombe said there were 1,360 objections to the Fossway proposals,
including from the Victorian Society and local MP Jeremy Hunt, the Culture
Secretary.
Other objectors were Sir Christopher Frayling, ex-chairman of the Arts
Council, and Julian Barnes, who set his Booker Prize-nominated novel Arthur And
George in Undershaw.
They also included Rankin and the writer and broadcaster Fry.
Mr Gibson, a Conan Doyle scholar, backed by many literary celebrities, was
asking Mr Justice Cranston to quash Waverley Borough Council's decision to allow
the Grade II-listed building to be divided into eight separate homes.
Mr Stinchcombe said the Fossway scheme involved using concrete blocks to
divide Undershaw into a terrace of three houses.
The court heard that the council was entitled to take the view that the
development proposed by Fossway would meet the objectives of preserving and
safeguarding its literary association with Conan Doyle.
It was acknowledged that the proposals would have some impact on the original
plan of the house, especially the construction of a new east wing.
But the house would retain existing important features including fireplaces,
stained glass windows and staircases and it would be saved from further decline.
The proposals also included some demolition and the erection of five new town
houses and the conversion of the stable block into garages.
The QC argued that the planning authority had failed to give proper
consideration to a third party offer to buy the property so that it could once
more become a single dwelling.
Mr Stinchcome said: "There was serious neglect by the owners of this
building."
Its condition deteriorated rapidly through water coming in following the
theft of lead from the roof and lack of security.
The council ordered urgent works in 2006 which stopped further deterioration,
and recovered nearly £75,000 from Fossway to cover the cost.
A repairs notice was served in November 2008 but was not complied with by
Fossway, said Mr Stinchcombe.
Mr Fry, a Patron of the Conan Doyle library and the former youngest member of
the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, said: “It is more certain than anything
else in all literature that Sherlock Holmes will last, not just centuries, but
for millennia.
“There is so much a living, thriving Undershaw could achieve. It could be a
study centre, a visitor attraction, aligning museum and a focus of pride.
"I urge all those have the power to think of themselves not as wrecking
balls, but as people of vision and creative insight.
“There is real value in Undershaw. If it is thought about, it can attract new
generations of tourists to the area, it can be an enormous source of local
pride. Please, please, have another think.”
The judge reserved his judgment and said he hoped to give his decision soon.
Richard Alleyne
telegraph.co.uk
For me this story is a crying shame, we were brought up with Sherlock Holmes and we still love the character and books now. Why should money come before whats right all the time!!