This article is attributed to The Conan Doyle (Crowborough) Establishment.
In late 1906, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was visiting Crowborough, staying
with the Leckie family at a house in Lordswell Lane known as Monkstown.
Following a long illness, his first wife, Louise, had died earlier
in the year. This visit appears to have been the first time he felt
well  enough
to go anywhere, having been so distraught by her death. The daughter
of the Leckies, Jean, had known Sir Arthur since 1897, when she
became his tour and lecture organiser. Their developing relationship
was soon to lead to marriage. Down the lane from Monkstown was a
cottage called Little Windlesham, owned by a Mrs Scott-Malden, who
was considering its sale. Sir Arthur fell in love with the property
and purchased it, soon extending it into a large family house. Late
in 1907, Sir Arthur married Jean Leckie and they moved into the
house which was now called simply Windlesham.
Windlesham was developed entirely around Conan Doyle’s own
ideas and specifications. Its focal point was the great long room
known as the Billiard Room, at one end of which Lady Conan Doyle
had installed a piano and practiced her music. The Billiard Room
was the social centre of the house and could accommodate up to 150
guests. With rugs and carpets rolled back, it became an excellent
dance floor. Sir Arthur and Lady Conan Doyle were fond of entertaining,
and so the long room was ideal for that purpose.
In the garden of Windlesham, Sir Arthur had a wooden summerhouse
erected on a site that is now to the rear of Windlesham Cottage
– separated from the estate in the 1950s. Originally, the
estate extended from Monkstown Lane (a track leading from Lordswell
Lane to Sheep Plain) west of the house, to the east along Hurtis
Hill as far as Harlequin Lane. Sometimes, Sir Arthur would write
in his summerhouse, although he told one of his chauffeurs, Bill
Latter, that he preferred to write in his study on the first floor
of the main house. He often entertained other writers and personalities
and, as old photographs show, would share a garden seat with some
close by his ‘hut’, as he called the summerhouse. In
Crowborough, he wrote several of his Sherlock Holmes stories. Also
his science fiction stories The Lost World, The Poison Belt, The
Land of Mist and The Maracot Deep. Of these The Lost World is best
known, being made into a film at different times, and for television.
The Poison Belt is set in Sussex, and in it Conan Doyle clearly
describes the view from his first floor study across Crowborough
Common to distant Rotherfield. At that time, the trees had not grown
to cover the area as they do now, and the common and golf course
around Windlesham had acres of purple heather and golden-flowered
gorse, allowing a magnificent view. Other works penned at Windlesham
include Sir Nigel, Round the Fire Stories, Tales of Adventure and
A Medical Life – Conan Doyle having been a medical practitioner.
He also wrote there his great history of WW1 The British Campaign
in France and Flanders, 1916-1919. Much else was written there,
including his books on spiritualism, now collectors’ prized
items. Windlesham was where Conan Doyle had spent the longest time
of his life in any one place – 23 years from 1907 until his
death in 1930.
He made many friends in Crowborough, one being Robert Wallis Hunt,
headteacher of the first Beacon School in Church Road. Conan Doyle’s
sons, Denis and Adrian attended this school for their secondary
education, having first gone to Hookstead School (now a care home)
at Goldsmith Avenue with their younger sister Jean. Mr Hunt was
a keen billiards player and would turn up at Windlesham on his bicycle
with his cue strapped to his crossbar. But during WW1, Sir Arthur
had outspoken opinions on the suffrage movement. Not entirely a
misogynist – for he actually favoured women’s rights
– his argument was against the unfemininity of the suffragettes’
approach to their demand for the right to vote. Nevertheless, angry
suffragettes arrived and poured acid into a Royal Mail pillar box
by his front gate which was, at this time, kept chained and locked
at night. During the day a policeman was on duty. Should Robert
Hunt arrive for his game of billiards in daylight hours, he was
soon given entrance. But arriving later took time to arouse someone
in the house to let him in, much to Hunt’s amusement but not
Sir Arthur’s.
Throughout his years in Crowborough, local people took him to their
hearts. A hearty man, he liked to walk and talk to everyone he met.
In those days strangers were regarded with suspicion, but after
his arrival his obvious honesty appealed. After his death, many
of his old staff would speak of him in glowing terms. All were local,
outspoken Sussex people, as honest in their approach as was Sir
Arthur. Most of the local pubs have claimed him as a regular. It’s
possible he may have taken a glass of ale in many of them, especially
those on the route of his favourite walks, which covered most of
Crowborough. His favourite was going up to the Cross by way of Whitehill
and down St John’s Road to the mill ponds on the forest, thence
to Heavegate and back home. On this route, he most likely stopped
at the Red Cross Inn (now The Cross public house).
Conan Doyle’s three children of his second marriage were all
born in Crowborough. Denis in 1909, Adrian in 1910, and Jean in
1912. In later life, Jean became Air Commandant Dame Jean Conan
Doyle, Lady Bromet.
On 7 July 1930, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle suffered a heart attack in
his bedroom, next to his study. At his request, he was propped in
a chair to look out of a window at his favourite view across Crowborough
Common to Rotherfield. His sons then dashed to Tunbridge Wells to
fetch oxygen, not available in Crowborough, but it did not help.
His family was with him when he died. As he wished, he was later
buried in the garden at Windlesham, next to his writing ‘hut’
and beneath a copper beech to the rear of Windlesham Cottage. Many
national figures and local people attended the funeral, which required
a fleet of lorries to bring in the floral tributes. On 13 July 1930,
a memorial service was held for Conan Doyle at the Royal Albert
Hall in London. Lady Conan Doyle continued to live at Windlesham
until her death 1940. She too was buried at Windlesham, next to
Sir Arthur. On the sale of the estate in 1955, both bodies were
exhumed and reinterred at All Saints Church, Minstead, in the New
Forest. Close  by
is Bignell Wood, a country retreat Sir Arthur had purchased at a
love-gift for his wife in 1925. Today, Windlesham is a private residential
care home, and has been re-named Windlesham Manor.
On 23 May 1992, a plaque in memory of Sir Arthur was unveiled on
Montargis Terrace by his daughter, Dame Jean Conan Doyle.
Crowborough Town Council erected a statue of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
at Cloke’s Corner on 14 April 2001. The statue is unique,
being the world’s first public image of the great man himself.
It was designed and created by a local sculptor of international
renown, David Cornell. Funded by the town council, the project received
donations from many sources, including the Daily Mail and the Conan
Doyle (Crowborough) Establishment. Mrs Georgina Doyle, wife of Sir
Arthur’s nephew, unveiled the statue before a distinguished
audience and the vocal appreciation of local townspeople. Visitors
arrived from as far away as Japan, America Europe for the special
occasion.
|
