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	\|topic=Topography		\|topic=Topography
			\|summary=A reflective walk through the Crowborough and Windlesham landscape closely associated with Arthur Conan Doyle, showing how place, habit, and daily movement shaped both the man and his writing. The article blends local history, personal testimony, and physical geography to argue that Conan Doyle's environment is inseparable from his literary imagination.
	}}		}}
	''I Know That Country, Holmes'' is an article written by [[Michael Doyle]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 2, No. 1) in Spring 1991.		''I Know That Country, Holmes'' is an article written by [[Michael Doyle]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 2, No. 1) in Spring 1991.

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	[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p14-i-know-that-country-holmes-photos.jpg\|thumb\|500px\|center\|Windlesham from the west, c. 1906, before A.C.D.'s alterations<br /><br />A 1991 photograph taken from the same location as the one above]]		[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p14-i-know-that-country-holmes-photos.jpg\|thumb\|500px\|center\|Windlesham from the west, c. 1906, before [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|A.C.D.]]'s alterations<br /><br />A 1991 photograph taken from the same location as the one above]]

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	[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p11-i-know-that-country-holmes-photo.jpg\|thumb\|500px\|center\|Windlestham fron the west c. ~~1917~~]]		[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p11-i-know-that-country-holmes-photo.jpg\|thumb\|500px\|center\|Windlestham fron the west c. 1912]]


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	[[File:.jpg\|thumb\|500px\|center\|Windlesham Manor, October 1990. Taken from the garden to the west, bordering Crowborough Golf Course and Common]]		[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p12-i-know-that-country-holmes-photo.jpg\|thumb\|500px\|center\|Windlesham Manor, October 1990. Taken from the garden to the west, bordering Crowborough Golf Course and Common]]

TCDE-Team: Created page with "{{Cargo_Research_Articles |date=1991-03-01 |author=Michael Doyle |topic=Topography }} ''I Know That Country, Holmes'' is an article written by Michael Doyle published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 2, No. 1) in Spring 1991. A reflective walk through the Crowborough and Windlesham landscape closely associated with Arthur Conan Doyle, showing how place, habit, and daily movement shaped both the man and his writing. The a..."

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Created page with "{{Cargo_Research_Articles |date=1991-03-01 |author=Michael Doyle |topic=Topography }} ''I Know That Country, Holmes'' is an article written by Michael Doyle published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 2, No. 1) in Spring 1991. A reflective walk through the Crowborough and Windlesham landscape closely associated with Arthur Conan Doyle, showing how place, habit, and daily movement shaped both the man and his writing. The a..."

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{{Cargo_Research_Articles
|date=1991-03-01
|author=Michael Doyle
|topic=Topography
}}
''I Know That Country, Holmes'' is an article written by [[Michael Doyle]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 2, No. 1) in Spring 1991.

A reflective walk through the Crowborough and Windlesham landscape closely associated with [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], showing how place, habit, and daily movement shaped both the man and his writing. The article blends local history, personal testimony, and physical geography to argue that [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Conan Doyle]]'s environment is inseparable from his literary imagination.

== I Know That Country, Holmes ==
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p09-i-know-that-country-holmes.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Spring 1991, p. 9)]]
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p10-i-know-that-country-holmes.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Spring 1991, p. 10)]]
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p11-i-know-that-country-holmes.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Spring 1991, p. 11)]]
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p12-i-know-that-country-holmes.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Spring 1991, p. 12)]]
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p13-i-know-that-country-holmes.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Spring 1991, p. 13)]]
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p14-i-know-that-country-holmes.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Spring 1991, p. 14)]]

Houses, like gardens and family pets, reflect their owners. The cheerful, optimistic personalities of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] and his first wife Louise were unmistakably present in 1989, when I visited Undershaw, the large and happy house built by the family in 1896 — their home until Louise died there in 1906. It was some months later that I found myself in London with a day free of mundane obligations and I determined to visit Windlesham, the house in which [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]], his second wife Jean, and their three children lived from 1907 and for the rest of his life.

A ride on the London Underground to Waterloo, a leisurely train journey to Tunbridge Wells and a seven mile bus ride through the beautiful East Sussex countryside brought me to the Crowborough Cross Hotel. This historic inn had much to offer: The Conan Doyle Room, a piping hot lunch, a pint of brown ale and, by appointment, a hearty welcome extended by Crowborough's resident historian and [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Conan Doyle]] enthusiast, Malcolm Payne.

[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p09-i-know-that-country-holmes-photo.jpg|thumb|500px|center|Bill Latter in one of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]]'s cars c. 1925]]

Mr. Payne, the curator of the Conan Doyle (Crowborough) Establishment, is himself a living treasure. His father, uncle and aunt worked at Windlesham and he was himself a friend of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]]'s chauffeur, the late Bill Latter. He told me of the affection and respect in which [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] was held by the household staff who, although the proper Victorian distance between employer and employeee was maintained, were invariably treated as friends by the entire family — a relationship which easily bore the weight of the idiosyncrasies of the great man. [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] was well liked in the village too — in his rambles he would talk to almost everyone he met. Mr. Payne told me of the beautiful singing voice of [[Jean Elizabeth Leckie|Lady Jean Conan Doyle]], a voice which filled the house with beauty as she went about her daily tasks; of being taken, at the age of two, to be introduced to the great author who laid aside his writing, dandled the youngster on his knee and sat him on his desk. Crowborough's historian happily recalled that a wide, damp patch was found when he was removed by his doting parents — such was Mr. Payne's first contribution to literature! He told me of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]]'s sons, Denis and Adrian (known in the village as Malcolm), and of their madcap driving of racing cars; of the eight acres that comprised the Windlesham grounds; that all three children of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]]'s second marriage were born and educated there; of the boys' near-expulsion from the Beacon School for frightening the other pupils with ghost stories — a danger from which the importuning of their famous father, a friend of the headmaster, Robert Hunt, saved them.

Mr. Payne showed me, with some pride, the remarkable Arthur Conan Doyle Collection: The ambience of The Conan Doyle Room is that of a Victorian family parlour. Many of the exhibits were given by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] to the Windlesham staff from time to time. I saw his camera, bought at a Crowborough store which still sells cameras today; a wooden rack for pipettes and test tubes, used by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] as his pipe rack; his personal visiting card case; a swagger stick from his time in the Crowborough Volunteers; his lens — an elegant and traditional possession in the Victorian era; his pince-nez — which appeared to be the pair appearing in the famous 1921 photograph The Missionary; and a spirit drawing made in a pitch dark room by a medium — the brightness of the eyes was extraordinary and the general likeness remarkably convincing. The walls were decorated by many photographs, several of which are, I believe, rare. One, of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] and his young sister Lottie, I had never seen before. Three loose-leaf books of letters to, and about, [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]], were on display and freely available for perusal. That ever-present enemy, time, however, prevented my enjoying them. Three o'clock was closing time in The Crowborough Cross Hotel and I gladly accepted Malcolm Payne's invitation to join him in a walk to Windlesham following, he said, one of the favourite routes taken by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] on his frequent rambles. [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] was a great walker, seldom doing less than three, and often as much as six miles a day.

[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p10-i-know-that-country-holmes-photo.jpg|thumb|500px|center|The Crowborough Volunteers, 1914. A.C.D. is second row from the back, third from the left.]]

Entering Lordswell Lane, I was shown a well — now cemented over for safety but still operable — reputed locally to have the special mineral properties of water to be found otherwise only at Tunbridge Wells. Mr. Payne's aunt, who married a Canadian soldier (her son, Roy C. Cornish became editor Emeritus of the Trentonian, Ontario), recalled being sent to the well daily by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] to draw him a pint of this elixir. Originally dug by a far-flung sect of the Anabaptists, the well stands in common ground and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. In Lordswell Lane, I was also shown the beautiful country home, Monkswell, originally owned by the Leckie family. It was the Leckie's living in Crowborough which persuaded [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] and his wife to choose the Hurtis Hill area of the town for their new home.

The end of the lane down which Denis and Adrian used to drive their racing cars at break-neck speed, borders both the back garden of Windlesham and the Crowborough Common, where a particularly fine, sturdy, group of wild rose bushes caught my eye. It was planted there, as a gift to the community, by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] himself: the roses came from his own garden. Here, too, we found "Quarry Hill House" (later renamed by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]], for reasons on which it is interesting to speculate, as "Fey House"), a stone farmhouse in which [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] tried to persuade his mother to live. Valuing her independence, she declined. Malcolm Payne drew from his pocket a very rare photograph of the ma'am and her son Arthur standing between the very stone gate posts by which we stood. The sandstone quarry, after which the house is named, was the site of an archaeological dig, catalysed by the discovery of fossilized footprints of igunadons. [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]], greatly interested, asked permission to watch the proceedings — but was refused: admission to the public was not permitted. The next day, the quarry received an order from Windlesham for a large quantity of Sussex sandstone — with a condition that [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] be allowed on the site at all times during its preparation! The result: The Lost World written at Windlesham.

[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p11-i-know-that-country-holmes-photo.jpg|thumb|500px|center|Windlestham fron the west c. 1917]]

And so to Windlesham! [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] greatly increased the size of the original cottage by adding two large wings and six large gables. A glass-enclosed verandah, which the garden embraces like a supportive friend, is a more recent addition, serving Windlesham Manor's (as it is now known) function of a rest home for the retired. The heart of the house, as at Undershaw, was the Billiard Room. Here, also, was the centre for the family's social activities: [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] was proud of his wife's beauty, culture and abilities as a hostess and they both loved entertaining. The Billiard Room was large and resounded to the sounds of dances and parties. At one end was Lady Jean's music room. Much to my disappointment, an intrusion into the house that afternoon would have inconvenienced the residents but the personality of Windlesham was unmistakable.

[[File:.jpg|thumb|500px|center|Windlesham Manor, October 1990. Taken from the garden to the west, bordering Crowborough Golf Course and Common]]

[[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] used to write both in his study, looking out over Crowborough Common and the golf course, and in his summer house — his hut as he called it — at the north east side of the house. Malcolm Payne and I strolled through the large garden enjoying the late October sunshine and Mr. Payne recalled for me the great funeral following [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]]'s death on 7 July 1930. He vividly described the gathered crowd of household staff, villagers, visitors and close friends, and pointed out the field in which were laid the vast quantities of flowers which arrived, by special train, from London. He showed me the grassy plot — to which the entrance is today denied by the present owner — in which [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]] was buried under the famous epitaph Steel True, Blade Straight. Today, the summer house is no more and the land containing the grassy plot is for sale. Its owner resents the land's spiritualist association and wishes to obliterate at by building bungalows — an action, it seems to me, as arrogant — and as ultimately futile — as the efforts of the early Christians to eradicate the druidic monuments and ritual pits by building churches on them. Could not readers dig into their pockets and help to preserve this hallowed field?

[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p13-i-know-that-country-holmes-photo.jpg|thumb|500px|center|A.C.D.'s garden hut at Windlesham in 1953]]

Walking back to Crowborough Cross, Malcolm Payne told me of a young lady, the Hon. Miss De La Bere, daughter of the late Lord Mayor of London, Sir Rupert De La Bere. As a child, she was an ardent bicyclist and frequently encountered an elderly gentleman, bluff, hale and hearty, walking in the lanes around Crowborough. He never spoke but always nodded and smiled at her. One day, her bicycle wheels askew, she skidded into the gentlemanly figure. To her amazement, as she picked herself up fro the muddy lane, she found the man had gone. She had injured no one! In his place was a patch of very cold air. It was only when, recounting her story, she was shown a photograph of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]], that she realised whom she had "bumped into".

Mr. Payne told me, too, of his disappointment that he had yet to persuade the Crowborough Council to authorise a [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Conan Doyle]] post card; and of the difficulties he faced in producing and publishing [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] in Crowborough, a book which must be of intense interest to us all.

Nearing the Cross, Mr. Payne called a cheerful "Hello, Doreen" to a lady wheeling her bicycle up the hill. "Doreen Latter," he explained. "She works at Woolworths part-time and is a nurses' aide at weekends. She is the daughter of Bill Latter, [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur]]'s chauffeur." She is, I reflected, also living history: "I know that country, Holmes — the folk are forgotten but their names live in their houses."

Indeed they do, Watson. Indeed they do.

[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-03-p14-i-know-that-country-holmes-photos.jpg|thumb|500px|center|Windlesham from the west, c. 1906, before A.C.D.'s alterations<br /><br />A 1991 photograph taken from the same location as the one above]]

All photographs accompanying this article are the copyright of and are reproduced with the kind permission of The Conan Doyle (Crowborough) Establishment.

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I Know That Country, Holmes - Revision history

TCDE-Team at 21:14, 17 February 2026

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TCDE-Team at 20:17, 10 February 2026