Sherlock home gets reprieve
Sir Conan Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles here. Yet his former house faced an ill-conceived development proposal. Now a judicial review says that the planning procedure was flawed.
The Victorian Society has welcomed the decision to quash redevelopment plans for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's former house, Undershaw, where he wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles. The judgement, given today at the Royal Courts of Justice, says that Waverley Borough Council's decision to grant planning permission for nine separate homes at Undershaw should be quashed. According to the judicial review this is because of flaws in the planning process.
Undershaw, near Hindhead in Surrey, was commissioned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as a home for himself and his wife. He was involved with designing the house. In later years it became a hotel and more recently has fallen into severe disrepair. ‘It is wonderful news,’ said Dr Ian Dungavell, Director of the Victorian Society. ‘ We've been campaigning to save Undershaw since 2006. As the house commissioned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his own family’s occupation Undershaw has international significance. It was at Undershaw that Doyle wrote his most famous work.'
Waverley Borough Council may appeal the decision.
Wednesday 30 May, 2012
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