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MARK GATISS – PATRON AND SPONSOR       

 

In a message received from Mark he told the UPT that he would be honoured to accept this position.  

 

    

      

 

  

 

 PETER EGAN AND PHILIP FRANKS                   

Direct from their dressing rooms at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, Peter Egan and Philip Franks who are currently starring in ‘The Secret of Sherlock Holmes’ have sent the following statement:                   

“We consider that this planning application should be refused on the grounds that it would destroy the iconic and historic identity of Undershaw where Conan Doyle, through the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, wrote the return of the most famous and enduring ficticious partnership in literature.                   

Undershaw should not be divided by concrete into apartments, but should remain as one dwelling so that future generations can see how Conan Doyle lived through a traumatic and fruitful period of his creative life. We feel sure that Waverley and Haslemere would wish to retain Undershaw with at least some limited public access as a boost to the regeneration of Hindhead and tourism in the area”                   

                                       

     STEPHEN FRY

                                      

“There has never been a time when Conan Doyle has gone out of fashion or interest in him, his ideas and his creations has dropped far off the public radar. But there has certainly never been a time when he has been more keenly appreciated and valued than now.                   

I have contributed to three documentaries on Doyle and Holmes, two of them in the last year. One of the most successful films of this year was a Sherlock Holmes adaption: a global blockbuster of enormous proportions that is spawning a whole major Hollywood Holmes franchise.                  

Julian Barne’s Arthur And George was one of the most successful books of the decade. The BBC are planning a huge new series based on an updated Sherlock Holmes. And at this time now …Undershaw is to be retitled Underthreat. Surely we can all see that this is a disastrous mistake?                   

As Patron of the Conan Doyle library, as a former youngest member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, as an admirer of Doyle and his achievements I urge Waverley Borough Council to reconsider what future ages will adjudge a foolish short-sighted and wanton act of vandalism. 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.”               

Our personal thanks to Stephen for honouring us with his support and his amazing tweet that caused this website to increase website traffic by 1,500% over several days which is mega and unheard of. For those that don’t use Twitter, view Stephen’s message: the link is http://twitter.com/stephenfry/status/25681586867         

WILLIAM ROACHE MBE                   

I would like to take this opportunity to thank William Roache MBE for his interest and input to the Save Undershaw project. I know he has had a busy schedule with filming Coronation Street over the last few months but has managed to find a few minutes of his time to write the following in support of Undershaw.                   

             ”Arthur Conan Doyle was a deep believer in the positive power of religious faith. He feared that the Victorian obsession with science was corrupting society, making people blind to everything which demanded belief from the heart instead of proof from the laboratory. He was a fearless champion of spiritualism, because he knew beyond doubt that there is a life after death. Despite vicious attacks by scientists, sceptics and mockers, he never gave up an inch to the aetheists. It is very important that Undershaw is preserved in his memory, and that we carry forward his message about the positive power of the mind”.

“Undershaw was the much-loved home of Arthur Conan Doyle, once he had become an established writer. Many of the books, pamphlets and articles with which he is now so closely associated were penned there, and he developed a deep relationship with the local community around Undershaw as well. Many of the great names in late Victorian and Edwardian literature visited Conan Doyle at Undershaw for meetings, dinners and cricket matches. I have read several of Conan Doyle’s diaries for this period and know just how much time he spent at the house. So it was not a question of “Conan Doyle slept here”.                  

Undershaw played an important part in his writing life. One of the most celebrated photographs of Conan Doyle – often reproduced – maybe THE photograph of him shows him, legs crossed, sitting in his writing room at Undershaw surrounded by trophies.                    

So I fully support the campaign – he’d have liked that word – to preserved and list the currently unlisted parts of the building, i.e. the stable and the ‘well’. By association, and in its own right, Undershaw is a significant house”.                    

A recent article in the Guardian reported that  Sir Christopher commented on the recent developments resulting from Waverley Borough Council’s decision to approve the development:  “If this was Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, unquestionably this house would have been preserved. Because its Conan Doyle – and detective stories – he is treated as second class in literature. But he wrote some of the best-known stories in the English literature”.                   

JEREMY HUNT MP – SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CULTURE, OLYMPICS, MEDIA AND SPORT                    

In an e-mail received from Jeremy Hunt he said: “I am extremely disappointed with the Undershaw decision. It is a real shame that the offer from the mystery buyer was not taken into consideration. I would be delighted to write a letter of support for your efforts so do please keep me updated”.                   

 Cllr Jim Edwards (now Mayor of Haslemere)

 Before Cllr Edwards became Mayor of Haslemere just recently, he was the lone councellor that voted against the planning application to develop Undershaw.

The team here would like to thank Mr Edwards for his vote albeit to no avail.

THE BAFTA 4JB TEAM                  

                 

 ”We would very much like to add our support to this more than worthwhile cause. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has, for many decades now, been one of Great Britain’s best-loved authors, and his Sherlock Holmes stories have been magnificently brought to life by talented actors and production teams around the world. Let us prove our appreciation of Sir Arthur’s work by preserving his much-loved home”.                    

JULIAN BARNES – AUTHOR - ARTHUR & GEORGE                   

 ”Apart from Thomas Hardy’s house, Undershaw is the only writer’s house in England in which the writer played a major part in the design.  Given Doyle’s enduring popularity it would be not just a shame, but a disgrace if it were now to be lost to development”.                  

Julian can be seen being interviewed on the London ITV News which can be found in the ‘Links’ section of this website.                 

                    

                                      ALISTAIR DUNCAN               

Alistair Duncan wrote to me several months ago expressing his concern for Undershaw and his determination to help the campaign. He has arranged with his publisher to set up a special code for people to buy his books and this can be accessed through the following link: http://www.mxpublishing.co.uk/engine/shop/page/Partners/Save+Undershaw+Campaign               

               

If at the checkout you enter the code ‘undershaw’ a donation of £1.50 for each book sold will go towards the campaign               

It is written that Alistair is a respected Holmes historian and writer of the acclaimed ‘Eliminate the Impossible’ which has set the standard for recent examinations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s works. A fascinating and enjoyable work that has garnered praise from around the Sherlockian world. The Sherlock Holmes Society of London in their review of ‘ETI’ - “Alistair Duncan knows his Holmes”.  His second book ‘Close to Holmes’ – a look at the connections between historical London, Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has proved a hit with Holmes and ACD fans as well as those interested in Victorian London. His third book ‘The Norwood Author’ is a biography of Arthur Conan Doyle, covering the few years he spent living in Norwood. During this time he wrote several Sherlock Holmes stories including the notorious one where he kills off his hero.               

Alistair is now busy writing  a further book - here is what he says about it:               

“When Lynn first suggested to me the idea of writing a book on Undershaw I was sceptical. I had only recently completed my book ‘The Norwood Author’ and had been hoping to hang up my pen for a few months. However, Lynn’s was not the only voice. An American Sherlockian contacted me via a website entitled ‘Sherlockian Who’s Who’ (a global directory of Sherlockians) and suggested the very same idea. Despite this I was still sceptical.               

Why was I sceptical? I guess it was because I felt that this part of Conan Doyle’s life had been well covered. With my earlier book I was covering a period that had, to such a large extent, been overlooked. I didn’t feel the same was true for 1897-1907.               

I finally became convinced when Guy Marriot, the President of the Sherlock Holmes Society London added his voice to the chorus in May.               

The book is now underway.           

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1908218193
The Trust would like to reiterate our thanks to Alistair Duncan for his offer to donate 50% of net royalties to the campaign to save Undershaw.

“If I have one regret it is that my book will have nothing to do with the fate of this great house. By the time it is complete the house will have either been saved or developed (I use the term very loosely). However, in the event that it is saved I hope that my book will demonstrate why it was the right thing to do (although why there would be any doubt is beyond me). If, sadly, Undershaw has been vandalised (I can think of no other word) then my book will be able to show (I hope) what a disastrous and short-sighted decision it was”.     

Update by Alistair Duncan

I just thought now would be a good time to give you all an update on my next book “An Entirely New Country”. I also hope to clear up some misconceptions about it. 

Firstly it is not a book about Undershaw per se. Instead, the book looks at Conan Doyle’s life both locally and nationally during the period that he resided in his Hindhead home (1897 – 1907). In many respects I use the house as a chronological anchor more than anything else. You can expect events described that took place away from Undershaw as well as those that took place within it.

The decade that Conan Doyle resided in Hindhead was an eventful one both professionally and personally. He lost his first wife to tuberculosis and married his second. He resurrected Sherlock Holmes and saw the first serious stage dramatisation of his famous creation. He also stood twice for parliament and spoke out both in person and through the press on a variety of local and national issues.

Inevitably, with a man as written about as Conan Doyle, you will find things in my book that you have read elsewhere. This problem has affected all his biographers since Hesketh Pearson who wrote the earliest (that I know of) in the 1940s. However, I have done my best to present these facts from a different perspective and have thrown in a few new ones where I have been able to unearth them. I also indulge myself in a little speculation here and there about how events in Conan Doyle’s life affected his writing and vice versa. 

The book is currently going through the editing stage. This is where the first draft is checked for errors – both factual and typographical – and changes are suggested. These may cause whole new sections to be composed and some to be taken away. Rest assured though that we are on course for the launch date of December 5th 2011.

ANTHONY HOROWITZ          

  An e-mail from the office of Anthony Horowitz said  that he would be delighted to lend his name in support of this worthy cause. His quote in support of the campaign says:     

 “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of one of Britain’s greatest literary icons, deserves better than this.  I hope the members of Waverly Borough Council  will see sense and recognise the importance of preserving this historic house.”     

Anthony Horowitz, the BAFTA-award winning creator of Foyle’s War and author of the bestselling Alex Rider children’s series, has been chosen by the Conan Doyle Estate to write a new full length Sherlock Holmes novel which will be published by Orion in September 2011. The content of the new tale – and indeed the title – remain a closely guarded secret. The prologue is currently under lock and key at the Orion offices. The announcement of the new novel was made to the Sherlock Holmes Society on 15 January where Anthony Horowitz was the keynote speaker.     

This brand new story is being written with the full endorsement of the Conan Doyle Estate; the first such time that they have given their seal of approval for a new Sherlock Holmes novel. Setting aside the numerous film and TV adaptations of the famous Baker Street detective, Anthony Horowitz has returned to the original books to produce a brilliant mystery novel, stripped back to the original style of Conan Doyle.     

Anthony Horowitz says: “I fell in love with the Sherlock Holmes stories when I was sixteen and I’ve read them many times since. I simply couldn’t resist this opportunity to write a brand new adventure for this iconic figure and my aim is to produce a first rate mystery for a modern audience while remaining absolutely true to the spirit of the original”     

Anthony Horowitz is a TV screen-writer and is the creator and writer of ‘Foyle’s War’, ‘Midsomer Murders’ and ‘Collison’, as well as adapting many of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot novels for the ITV series. He was awarded a BAFTA for ‘Foyle’s War’ and Foyle was recently voted ‘The People’s Detective’ in the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards, an award voted for by viewers. His new five-part drama series ‘Injustice’ will be shown on ITV1 in May. Anthony Horowitz is also the author of a string of bestselling children’s books, including the Alex Rider, The Power of Five and The Diamond Brother series. The ninth and final Alex Rider book, Scorpia Rising, is published on 31 March.     

RUTH DUDLEY EDWARDS

 “It is shocking that Undershaw is under threat. Arthur Conan Doyle will still be famous when the developers are long forgotten. He created and loved Undershaw. We owe it to him and to future generations to preserve it as a worthy monument…Good luck and regards.”

 Ruth Dudley Edwards is the author of Corridors of Death, The Saint Valentine’s Day Murders, The English School of Murder, Clubbed to Death, Matricide at St Martha’s, Ten Lords A-Leaping, Murder in a Cathedral, Publish and Be Murdered, Anglo-Irish Murders, Carnage on the Committee, and Murdering Americans. For a link to her website:  http://www.ruthdudleyedwards.co.uk/

OWEN DUDLEY EDWARDS

“If houses can be haunted by benevolent spirits quite apart from the famous tragic cases, as Conan Doyle believed, surely Undershaw should inspire present, past and future. Here Holmes returned and Brigadier Gerard adventured, the Green Flag waved, Sir Nigel won his spurs, GBS argued with ACD, the Boer War found its first historian who wrote the last instalment of Grant Allen’s Hilda Wade in the Strand having recorded the plot from the dying author’s dictation. God bless him. With all good wishes”.

Owen Dudley Edwards is the author of the Quest for Sherlock Holmes: A Biographical Study of Arthur Conan Doyle, and editor of the Oxford Sherlock Holmes (Oxford University Press 1993). His play, Sherlock Holmes: The Three Students; was produced at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe. He is an Honarary Fellow, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, The University of Edinburgh, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His most recent book is British Children’s Fiction in the Second World War (Edinburgh University Press, 2007).

ROBERT LINDSAY

Robert has recently recorded an audiobook for the British Library – The Narrative of John Smith by Arthur Conan Doyle. Previously unpublished, this is the first novel Conan Doyle ever wrote, when he was just 23. The original was mysteriously lost in the post on its way to a publisher, but ACD later re-wrote it, although he left it unfinished. The British Library acquired the manuscript in 2007, and will be publishing the book and audio version simultaneously on September 26th.  

“It is a sad fact that very few places important to the life of Holmes’s creator remain untouched. His former homes have been lost or converted to other uses. Often a plaque has been the only indication that he had a connection to a site at all.

 

His former Hindhead home, Undershaw, is now the only unoccupied site that could be restored. It has not escaped alteration, having been a hotel for many years, but these are changes that can be reversed. The proposed redevelopment that is threatening the house now would be extremely difficult if not impossible to undo.

 

Our culture is something we should fight to protect. Whatever your opinion of his work, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of the best and most well loved writers these islands have ever produced. His house should be saved in order that future generations will have the opportunity to see where this great writer lived during one of the most productive periods of his life.

 

It is difficult to recall a time when Sherlock Holmes was more in the public eye than he is now. The success of the recent film by Guy Ritchie combined with that of the BBC’s update of Holmes has arguably made Holmes as popular and famous today as the day when he first appeared in The Strand – the magazine that was to make him and Arthur Conan Doyle famous”.

                              CHRISTIAAN HESSE

Christiaan was elected to the Council on 5 May 2011. Cllr Hesse is a member of the Southern Area Planning Committee and the Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

In a recent statement Cllr Hesse expressed the following:

“As a local Councillor representing Hindhead, I am passionately concerned with the ‘success’ of Hindhead as a whole. There is no doubt that Undershaw could be a major part of the Hindhead ‘brand’ – after all, who hasn’t heard of Sherlock Holmes around the world? As such, Undershaw could significantly reinforce social, cultural and economic factors in the Hindhead Regeneration plan. However, a funded plan must be found – in cooperation with the current owner – to provide an alternative to the current development plan for which planning consent has been approved. This will break the existing building up and render the Conan Doyle/Sherlock Holmes-link lost in the same way as has happened to other Hindhead properties, such as George Bernard Shaw’s house. I admire the Save Undershaw team and their aspiration and I support it wholeheartedly. They have worked extremely hard to and I am delighted to provide a bridge between Save Undershaw and Waverley Borough Council in order to further improve cooperation in this endeavour. I wish them every success – but it all comes down to money. Concerned readers should get ready to put their hands in their pockets!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LAURIE R KING

 Our thanks to American mystery author Laurie R King  http://www.laurierking.com/author/media-page for her statement in support of the efforts that are being made to save Undershaw:

Photo: Red Bat Photography

     “Place has a huge influence on a writer.  It is deeply disturbing to hear that a house so essential to the work of one of Britain’s most influential writers lies under threat, first of abandonment, then of conversion and inundation by modern homes.

Undershaw embodies the boundless creativity and energy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a man interested in everything from skiing to architecture, social justice to military theory.  One need only look at the walls and windows of this extraordinary house to see what it meant to Conan Doyle.  Undershaw brought together all the wide-flung aspects of his life: its lines embody the security that was so necessary to the man; its broad windows illustrate his concern for the health of his beloved wife; its grounds might have been laid out for the benefit of his children.  At the same time, it was designed as a place for this man, who had begun his writer’s life scribbling in his surgery between patients, to let his imagination flower.  It was a house of great solidity and pleasure, where he might be proud to welcome friends both literary and personal.  It was also house of considerable curiosity, whose details encouraged him to experiment with ideas—again, both literary and personal.

As a writer myself, I find it no coincidence that several of Conan Doyle’s greatest works were written at Undershaw.  It was a house of inspiration—both inspired by his ideas of life, and itself inspiring further feats of imagination.  He had only to think of its Anglo-Saxon name to envision the historical world so vital to him as a writer.  He had only to raise his eyes to see the world his mind had shaped.

     The work Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did at Undershaw changed the face of the world’s literature.  It would bewilder, and sadden, future generations, were we to permit its loss.
     I ask you please, to assist with the preservation of the house Undershaw”.