Mary Russell Atlas

The
Mary Russell / Sherlock Holmes
Atlas

With some relevant links to places
in the earlier Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes books of Laurie King

On This Page:

Sussex Downs | The Bodlieian Library | Wales: | Dartmoor:
Click on the images below for a bigger image.

Over the years a few people, including Christopher Morley, have speculated
on where Sherlock Holmes' retirement home was exactly.
That speculation was continued in a discussion back in about the year 2000 on the Mary Russell mailing list.

That led to a series of web pages that reproduced that discussion.

An explanation of speculations that led to these pages.
Jim Byrd's Speculation.
A continuation of Byrd's Speculation.
A wee bit of information on Sussex Downs.

Sussex Downs

This map is an overview map of southeast England. The map below is a close up of Sussex Downs where Russell and Holmes live and first encounter each other.

There's no telling for this armchair traveler where Russell's farm or Holmes' cottage is located, but there are several clues from Beekeepers Apprentice:

Russell's farm and Holmes' cottage are about 6 miles apart
The Monk's Tun, a favorite watering hole of Russell's farm manager Patrick, is located on the road between Lewes and Eastbourne, so it shouldn't be far from Russell's farm. Tony Slyvester lived near the river, west of Holmes house and about 20 minutes bicycle ride from The Monk's Tun
The Barker Manor, with a good view of the sea, is but 3 miles from Holmes' cottage.

Conclusions?

Click here for more location speculation

Bodlein Library-Oxford, England

I suppose some would say that Mary's true home was the library.
Click for a Google Maps map of Oxford city center showing the location of the Bodleian. Of course, you can always make a virtual visit to the Bodleian.

Wales - The Beekeeper's Apprentice

In the pursuit of Jessica Simpson and her kidnappers, Holmes and Russell travel north from Cardiff and then west "into the hilly greensward that curled up toward the Brecon Beacons."
A day more, and then on the third day they passed the Simpson's camping place. Further north then again, so it's not certain where into the hinterland of Wales they have ventured.
It might be noted that Ms. King uses current terms for counties in Wales, and according to my encyclopedia, 1974 saw a major change in Welsh county names.

Dartmoor

There is a marvelous close-up map of Dartmoor in the front of the hard-cover edition of The Moor, covering the area inside of the blue rectangle in the map at the left. This map shows a bit of a broader view to include Exeter and the sea.

Links to Devon and Dartmoor National Park include:

The official government site for the National Park.
The GenUKI site for Devon. Designed for genealogists, it has a lot of information and bibliography about Devon.

Lewtenchard Manor - the site of The Moor

The Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould's home is now a hotel. Visit the Hotel's website
- you might just want to spend the night.
A Google search will find much, much information on Sabine Baring-Gould.

Over the years a few people, including Christopher Morley, have speculated on where Sherlock Holmes' retirement home was exactly. That speculation was continued in a discussion back in about the year 2000 on the Mary Russell mailing list.

An explanation of speculations that led to these pages. Jim Byrd's Speculation. A continuation of Byrd's Speculation. A wee bit of information on Sussex Downs.