oldexeterinnA world-famous name created in Ashburton
The Hound of the Baskervilles: Another Adventure of Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle noted in the cover of this First Edition, “I perambulated Dartmoor before I wrote this book“.
It comes as a big surprise to many people to discover that the name of one of the most famous characters in all of the Sherlock Holmes adventures is not fictional at all. The name Baskerville is real. Very real indeed. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a regular client at the Old Exeter Inn whilst he was writing The Hound of the Baskervilles.
And then one day, something remarkable happened. He found a new driver to take him on trips across the moor. A local Ashburton man who knew Dartmoor like the back of his hand. The man who helped the author discover the bleak landscapes so well described in his terrifying best seller was non other than Harry (Henry) Baskerville, a coachman who lived around the corner from the Old Exeter Inn. The Sherlock Holmes author was obviously so impressed by the Baskerville name that he borrowed it for his book!
To this day, Baskerville is not far from his favourite watering hole, the Old Exeter Inn! He is resting in the graveyard of St Andrews Church opposite the inn.
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