St. Bartholomew's Hospital - Sherlock

SCREENSHOT of John looking up at Sherlock standing on the roof’s edge of St. Bart’s.

It is from the parking lot of St. Bart’s that John is forced to helplessly watch his best friend fall from the rooftop of the hospital to his (apparent) death.

“Reichenbach Falls,” the third episode of the second season of Sherlock, takes its name from the original Arthur Conan Doyle location of Sherlock’s death in “The Final Problem.” Now we know that Sherlock makes a triumphant return in later stories published in The Strand, just as he did in the BBC modern day version, but that was not the author’s original intention. Thankfully for us, and to Conan Doyle’s annoyance, the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson stories were so well-loved that he had no choice but to revive Sherlock and reunite him with his partner-in-solving-crimes John Watson.

Rather than the cliff near a waterfall, in the modern version starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson, Sherlock falls from the rooftop of St. Bartholomew’s Teaching Hospital in London. Bart’s plays a part not only in the BBC’s version but also in the original story and that is what makes this location so integral to the Sherlock fandom.

PHOTO BY AUTHOR St. Bart’s.

A quick history lesson

Founded in 1123 as part of the Priory of St. Bartholomew, St. Bart’s is the oldest hospital in England to be continuously operating on the same site. It was founded by Rahere, a former courtier of Henry I, who believed he was commanded by God to create this hospital and priory in the name of St. Bartholomew. While Henry I believed in the divine commandment, Henry VIII had other ideas, and he closed the priory in 1539, while allowing the hospital to remain open as a secular institution. Unfortunately, without the Priory, the hospital had no income, but almost a decade later, after a citizen’s petition to the mayor, Henry VIII granted St. Bart’s to the City of London and later willed it property for income. In 1702, a statue of Henry VIII was erected in a gatehouse to the hospital, a late thank you for giving ownership of St. Bart’s to the City. This statue is the only statue of Henry VIII on public display in London.

Most of the original buildings have been destroyed by war or demolished for renovations, and now the only medieval structure still standing is the tower of the Church of St Bartholomew the Less. There is a museum that houses early medical devices and historical documents and artifacts from over the lifetime of the hospital and priory located below the gatehouse in the North Wing. It hadn’t been open when I was there, but I do plan to visit at a later date since that is also where you can see the plaque, donated by the New York-based “Baker Street Irregulars” in 1953, that commemorates the first meeting of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

PHOTO BY AUTHOR

There is a nice, informative video tour of St. Bart’s on Youtube HERE, and also an interesting video biography about Sherlock Holmes which mentions St. Bart’s as part of the fictional Holmes mythology on Youtube HERE.

What it means to me

PHOTO BY AUTHOR

In the original story “The Final Problem”, the scene of Sherlock’s death is recorded by a devastated Watson who was not witness to Sherlock’s fall. It is left to speculation that Moriarty got the best of him on the cliff and the both of them went over to their deaths. He does find a note from Sherlock, letting him know it was written by Moriarty’s goodwill, and that Sherlock was well-aware that it would be his last message to Watson. The author has set up Sherlock’s end throughout the story, with him talking about how he could end his career when he had bested Moriarty.

For “The Reichenbach Falls” episode, Moriarty and Sherlock meet on the roof of St. Bart’s, a place that is important to both Sherlock and John in the modern series. It is where John trained to be a doctor, it is a place of refuge for Sherlock to run experiments, and it is where they met for the first time (in both the show and the books).

I stood approximately where John Watson stood in the carpark, looking up at the rooftop of St. Bart’s on a warm, right day in August 2015, and took a picture that will always bring back memories of that scene in “The Reichenbach Falls” and also of the other Sherlock fans I met there.

Some filming locations are just fun to visit, like staring up at Tower 42 and wondering how a man could scale up or down the 593 foot skyscraper and not fall, like in “The Blind Banker.” Or wondering if it was a real person (the poor man) or a dummy that had to lay on the cold riverside of the Thames in “The Great Game.”

And then there are locations where scenes were filmed that have such an emotional impact that you take a moment to swallow back a noise of excitement and just be there in the moment with the scene playing behind your eyes.

At least that’s what happened for me at St. Bart’s..

As a fan of the Sherlock stories, I knew that Sherlock was not dead even before the end of the episode when Sherlock appears in the cemetery, but that did not make the scene of his (apparent) suicide any less heartbreaking because the audience experienced it not just from Sherlock’s point of view, but also from John’s. John Watson has no idea why Sherlock is doing what he’s doing, no clue about the sacrifice Sherlock is making to save his life, he only knows that his best friend, someone he believes in when it seems no one else in the world does, has died in front of him and there was nothing he could do to save him.

I admit it, I cried while watching that scene, and just as I got a hold of myself, I ended up crying again when John is standing in front of Sherlock’s grave, begging him “don’t be dead.” Thankfully, Sherlock makes that miracle happen.

I wasn’t quite that emotional when staring up at the St Bart’s rooftop, but close when I met two other Sherlock fans. The best part about that meeting was that they spoke an unfamiliar language to me, yet the words “Sherlock”, “John”, and ‘Bart’s” were all we needed. A bit of general flailing and some hand gestures later, I was taking their picture with the hospital in the background, making sure to get the best angle to match up to the episode’s pivotal scene, and then we were smiling and waving goodbye.

SCREENSHOT of Google Earth view of the St. Bart's campus, with the Smithfield Ambulance Station in the center.

Best way to virtually visit

St. Bart’s is a functioning hospital and so tours are not an option, but you can visit the museum. It is currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, but you can visit the website HERE. Also, you can watch a Youtube video about the hospital history, buildings, and the museum HERE.

To virtually explore the hospital grounds, including the area where Sherlock’s fall was filmed, Google Earth is your best bet, in my opinion.

1. Open the Google Earth app in Google Chrome or go to https://www.google.com/earth/ (Click "Launch Earth”)

2. Click the magnifying glass icon to search and enter “St Bartholomew’s Hospital, West Smithfield”

3. Use the + (plus) icon to zoom in (if using a PC) or enlarge the screen as you normally would on a phone or tablet - use the 3D feature for the best “view”

4. Click on the little figure icon to see the blue lines and dots show up indicating a closer view

5. Click on a blue line to enter Street View or one of the dots which is in the Photo Sphere (a user has uploaded their photos)

6. In Street View, the white arrows allow you to move along the street in different directions.

SCREENSHOT from Google Earth of St. Bart's and ambulance station with Street View lines.

The 3D option will help get a better look at the whole campus and will pan around to get a 360 degree view of the area. You can go back to the 2D view anytime.

SCREENSHOT from Google Earth Photo Sphere of the Smithfield Ambulance Station and the St. Bart's building where Sherlock's fall was filmed. Photo by user James Morgenstern.

You’ll notice that there are few dots inside of the hospital campus, and I believe this is due to that area being used by hospital staff and patients. There are more dots near the church, but the Street View line runs right where a Sherlock fan would need it: past the Smithfield Ambulance Station in front of the building with that rooftop. You know the one.

SCREENSHOT from Google Earth Street View of the St. Bart's building with the name etched in the side.

“Walk” down the street a bit and you’ll come to the side of the building that flashes the St Bart’s name in various episodes. (Walk even further and you’ll reach The Old Bailey!)