As most of the avid followers of Sherlock Holmes would know, St Bartholomew’s Hospital is the center of most of the epic action scenes that take place in Conan Doyle’s books and in the actual BBC television series. It’s where Sherlock and Watson are first introduced and their friendship is able to bloom in beautiful color. It’s also where many other important characters are created, such as Mary Hooper- Sherlock’s trusty lab assistant. Not only this but the scene is also where many epiphanies take place and many of the biggest crimes are solved. This is what makes this setting such an important one and one of the biggest tourist attractions within London.
As most hospitals go, it is apparent that ‘Bart’s’ is not unlike most others. It holds the same dull, depressing interior as many others have claimed to have. Watson does not hold back on telling this within A Study in Scarlet when he first meets Sherlock.
We ascended the bleak stone staircase and made our way down the long corridor with its vista of whitewashed wall and dun-colored doors.
The adjectives used here such as ‘bleak’ portray a sort of cold and detached atmosphere. This could link to the way that Sherlock is depicted to everyone else within both the show and the book. At first he seems to be almost emotionless and unemphatic, however, as the series goes on we learn more about his character and find out more about his personality. We learn more about his friendship with Watson and about the compassion he feels for those he cares about. In a similar way, Bart’s is viewed as not being particularly special and actually being quite dull and not very nice to look at. However, it’s dull interior is brightened by the goings on that takes place within it. It’s a place of celebrating each of Sherlock’s great wins etc… So in a way… it’s almost as though Sherlock and Bart’s itself is actually connected in the ways that they are portrayed to others.
The same is shown within the series version of Sherlock Holmes. The short clip below shows how the rooms lighting differs from that of every other scene. How it darkens slightly and a blue hue settles over the room highlighting the cold atmosphere.
We can even see in the clip that the hospital doesn’t even necessarily appear to BE a hospital but more of a lab room for experiments. The only way we can tell it’s linked to Bart’s just from that short scene is the dead body that Sherlock is testing out which appears to be taken from the morgue. However, it does still hold similar elements from the book.
*-SPOILERS!!!-*
St Bartholomew’s Hospital is very important to Sherlock overall. It’s the throbbing heart of his work. Which is why what takes place within the Reichenbach Fall is so significant because there is so much symbolism based around why it is that Sherlock chose to do what he did there. His faked death being at St Bart’s could be viewed as Sherlock almost descending back to where he was created. He thrived and grew within this hospital, his work flourished under the influence of Bart’s, and by killing himself there it was almost as though he was strengthening his connection to it.
This is a few of the many reasons for why St Bartholomew’s hospital is so important and why you should most definitely check it out whenever you have the time. It’s link to Sherlock is so great, and any fan needs to go and experience it’s Sherlock magic. Be sure to check out my other blog posts based around Bartholomew’s also if you need further encouragement to go visit and find out things about it’s history etc…
A Study in Bartholomew’s 